In Altadena, fight is on to save trees that survived the fire

The oak trees saved the blue house on East Calaveras Street. Seriina Covarrubias was sure of it. When she had returned after the Eaton fire, much of the Altadena neighbor-hood was in ruins.

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Homes and the nearby shops on North Fair Oaks had been destroyed. Her garage and her prized garden were demolished. Her house had been filled with smoke — but it survived, and so did the two massive oaks that sheltered it. She considered it a small miracle. Weeks later, the Army Corps of Engineers had tagged the trees for removal, but certified ar-borists had inspected them as a second opinion and deemed them healthy. The oaks, believed to be at least 60 years old, didn’t appear to obstruct any entrance points or pose a danger and sported green leaves. It didn’t matter. Last weekend, nearly two months since the fire, they were cut down. “When I found this out, it was just as bad as thinking that I had lost the house,” said Covarrubias, 43. “I could have been there when they cut them down. I could have thanked them for the job that they did to protect my house.”

By arborist Rebecca Latta’s estimate, thousands of trees in Altadena have been tagged for removal: oaks, pines, sycamores, deodar cedars — trees that have canopied the town for decades. Now, she and other arborists, landscape professionals and residents have banded together in an effort to save the trees believed to have survived the fire and preserve the leafy grandeur that once shaped the devastated town. Officials have not released the number and types of trees that have been cut down, The Army Corps employs certified arborists to assess tree branches and root damage, and the likelihood of death within five years, according to the Coordinated Joint Information Center, a clearinghouse for agencies involved in the cleanup.