MESA, AZ — When ABC15 shared the story of how months of extreme heat followed by monsoon storms led to numerous downed trees across the Valley, Isabel Anderson and her husband were watching from their Mesa home, thinking about the towering pine tree that hangs over their house.
"This is gonna happen to us, it's just a matter of time, this tree is as old as we have been in this house," Anderson said.
The issue is that the 50 to 60-foot pine tree has several branches that could topple a nearby transformer, but it sits in her neighbor's yard.
As much as the desert community needs rain, any wind brings anxiety for Anderson because of the pine needles and branches.
"We could hear the branches of this tree hitting our house," Anderson said.
Both arborists and code enforcement with the city of Mesa came to Anderson's house and determined that while there are some dry needles, the tree isn't dead.
The City of Mesa tells ABC15 it's up to the neighbors to come to a resolution.
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ABC15 spoke with the neighbor, who said he has similar fears about the tree and has no problem with limbs or the entire tree being taken down — they just can't afford to pay for it.
So Anderson is paying for the tree to be removed by the end of the week.
"If you were here when that haboob hit, you would see how far down that branch was leaning; it's scary!" Anderson said.
But with the loss of a sprawling pine also comes the loss of immense shade, which helps mitigate extreme heat.
The city of Mesa tells ABC15 they encourage residents to plant the right tree in the right place. They even have a shade tree program that offers free trees to eligible homeowners, and another initiative with the goal of planting one million trees in Mesa by 2050 for cleaner air.
