Tumbling tree narrowly misses Wagner home, garage
An 80-foot spruce tree broke and crashed to the ground between Beryl and Janie Wagner's home and garage off Highway 206 just before midnight Thursday. (Joe Sova photo)
Beryl Wagner must be a really sound sleeper.
Wagner was sleeping through a storm late Thursday night, when an 80-foot spruce tree came tumbling down — falling perfectly between Beryl and Janie Wagner's modular home and garage west of Highway 206, the trunk of the spruce missing the home by only about 10 feet. The property is seven miles southeast of Columbia Falls and is about 100 yards off the highway.
Beryl figures the wind, estimated at between 35 and 40 mph, caused the tree to break off about 3 feet from the ground. He said he thought the tree was pretty healthy.
"They're notorious for this," he said of the spruce snapping and falling to the ground.
The Wagners were asleep when Janie was awakened by the sound of the tree crashing next to their home. She hadn't planned on waking up until Friday morning when she and Beryl would prepare for a garage sale Friday and Saturday.
"She screamed," Beryl said of Janie's reaction to the falling tree, and Beryl was awake. "We were real fortunate. It couldn't have fallen any straighter."
Janie believes it was God's will that the tree did not come crashing through their home.
"I don't think a human could put it (the tree) down that way," she said.
The spruce did take out a metal storage shed next to the garage. The shed is beyond repair. Some branches on a quaking aspen tree close between the home and garage were sheered off, and branches of the spruce damaged the umbrella on a table on the deck at the front door of the home. It fell so close to the home that small branches damaged the rain gutter.
"She came down with some real authority," Beryl said.
Just after the spruce fell, the Wagners lost power to their property. The electricity was out for more than three hours.
Beryl said there was damage to other trees south of their property along Highway 206. But as they say, it could have been worse at the Wagner home.
By noon Friday, Beryl had sharpened his chainsaw and it will take quite awhile to remove the fallen tree.