Woman’s death from fallen tree ‘avoidable’
A tree specialist says the tragic Spencer’s Oak accident that killed Trisha Butterworth was ‘‘completely avoidable’’.
Butterworth was killed on January 5 as storm winds caused the oak tree on the corner of Amohia and Arawa streets, in Rotorua, to buckle and collapse on her car.
Thomas Rika says he warned Rotorua Lake Council about the danger the 150-year-old oak tree presented to public back in September.
He said the tree was too heavy and bracing holding the tree up was giving way and worn.
Rika has worked as an arborist for 12 years and now runs his own company. Prior to that he was a forestry worker.
‘‘I could see the bracing in that tree was giving way so I told a
"It was rotten ... The simple fact the tree had bracing on it in the first place showed the tree was dangerous."
Thomas Rika
councillor about that.’’
Council undertook remedial work to add additional bracing to the tree and remove some branches, but in Rika’s opinion that was ‘‘insufficient’’.
‘‘The new bracing seemed to me it was put on too loose,’’ he said. ‘‘The original bracing was rigid steel wire with no flexibility. The secondary bracing put on afterwards allowed too much movement. When the wire fails the secondary bracing travels too far before it takes any load. By that time it’s too late.’’
Rika has inspected the gnarled stump of the tree and said it was easy to see signs of serious internal problems with it.
‘‘It was rotten,’’ he said. ‘‘This is an issue that would have likely started years ago. The simple fact the tree had bracing on it in the first place showed the tree was dangerous.’’
Rika said removing trees should also be a last option, but a significant weight reduction of Spencer’s Oak should have been conducted.
‘‘I know historical societies want to keep the trees but they need to be reduced. If you don’t reduce trees they will break and you will end up losing the tree anyway.’’
Rika said Butterworth’s death gutted him.
‘‘I felt that way firstly because I had warned council and they did do something, but not properly. I was devastated. It was avoidable.
‘‘I sometimes do work for the council so saying this could lose me work, but it needs to be said. I’m glad it’s out in the open.’’
Rotorua Lakes Council acting chief executive Craig Tiriana was asked about Rika’s concerns, but said the council would not be conducting an investigation via the media.
‘‘We understand that there is huge public interest in this matter but we do not intend to undermine the official inquiry by conducting an investigation through the media,’’ he said.
‘‘Council continues to cooperate fully with police and information will become publicly available at the appropriate time.
‘‘The important thing is to ensure the police are able to conduct their inquiry.’’
During a previous interview, Tiriana confirmed they had received a concern from a local tree specialist about the bracing and, following that, an inspection was done.
‘‘In late September/early October bracing was replaced and some branch reduction was undertaken,’’ he said.
Prior to that a report on the health of the tree was presented in February 2017 which recommended annual inspections but found no major issues with the tree.
Council has provided a copy of the report and other relevant documentation to Rotorua police to assist in their investigation, but has not released it to the media at this stage.
Meanwhile, police continue to seek witnesses to the tree fall who have been asked to contact police on 07 348 0099.