Saw crews clean up Mother Nature’s mess
Storm-felled branches and trees bound for landfills and fireplaces
Trees took a beating in this week’s ice storm.
Calls about downed trees and fallen branches began Sunday evening and were still coming by Tuesday afternoon, said Keelan Arnold of the city ’s forestry services. Complaints ranged from trees blocking roads to large branches in danger of falling on vehicles or houses.
Most of the calls came from areas with more mature trees, such as Kitchissippi and Central wards.
According to a 2013 survey of city-owned trees by the Forest Planning and Protection Unit, there are more than 9,800 trees in Kitchissippi Ward, and 7,100 in Central Ward.
It’s hard to say whether some species of trees were more affected by the storm than others, said Arnold, but cone-bearing trees are more likely to carry heavier weights and snap during ice storms.
After a storm, the city collects brush material, turns it into wood chips, then sends it to nearby landfills as a decomposing layer for the sites.
“Any larger wood material that we pick ... up goes to a city site, where we’re able to have potential bidders take that wood and use it for things like pulp and firewood,” Arnold said.
If city crews meet with the homeowner while removing a tree, Arnold said that in some rare cases, the homeowner may ask to keep the small piece of wood that fell on their property as decoration or firewood, but that is not usually encouraged by the city.
In the past, Arnold said, some residents would express an interest in keeping the newly felled trees, but would later call the city saying they changed their minds and wanted them removed — forcing the city to come back to the site to take it away.
Hydro Ottawa dispatched nine crews of arborists Monday to deal with fallen trees affecting power lines during the ice storm.
Nearly 43,000 Hydro Ottawa customers were without power at one point Monday. The company has not yet been able to determine how many fallen trees caused power outages, but noted that there are more than 60,000 trees close to power lines in Ottawa.
Arnold said trees that topple in ice storms are regularly replenished by the city, either by planting a new tree in its place or finding a home for it elsewhere in the city.