A massive tree toppled onto the side of a road in Glendale and injured a woman in her late 70s, the victim’s partner told KTLA Monday.
The incident happened near 3980 El Lado Drive on Sunday, according to the Glendale Fire Department. The woman, identified as Patricia Kennedy by her partner, Caroline Dyer, was taking a walk on the pathway.
She was recovering at Huntington Memorial Hospital after undergoing surgery, Dyer said.
“Her legs are crushed,” she said.
A witness told KTLA she watched the woman struggle to duck and cover before being hit.
“She had just enough time to step one or two steps back and lean back and kind of cover her head, and the tree was on her,” the witness said. “It was less than a second and a half … it was really fast.”
Two children who live in the neighborhood were walking in the area just before the tree fell. Emma Walch, 14, said her dog ran into the street and she and another child had to chase after it — keeping them away from the tree that would fall just moments later, she said.
“We would’ve been under the tree if my dog hadn’t run into the street,” she said.
Walch said she saw the woman walking just before the tree fell, which she said she could hear.
“All of a sudden, we just heard this huge crack,” she said.
Walch’s mother, Melissa, said there’s other towering trees in the neighborhood that should be cut to avoid such dangers.
“We want the trees that are leaning out,” she said.
A spokesperson for the city of Glendale said the tree is part of the city’s open space, and an arborist visited the scene of the falling tree on Monday to look into why it came down.
Witnesses reported trying to help. Dyer said the tree pinned Kennedy’s legs, and it took emergency crews 30 minutes to get her out.
Footage of the scene shows parts of the tree over a parked car, which appears to have its rear window smashed in.
Authorities have not provided further details about the incident and the victim’s condition.
