Laurence and Maxime contacted us via the orange button Alert us. The couple went through a traumatic experience. A large tree collapsed a few meters from the mother and her daughter, as they were returning from daycare. How is this possible? At what point do we decide to cut down a tree that could be dangerous for the population?
“I didn’t realize it right away, but when I saw the tree and heard the noise, which was impressive, I was scared.“, says Laurence. This Brussels resident went to pick up her daughter from daycare, and when she returned, a tree”fell suddenly” in front of them.
Luckily, there were no injuries, but the mother has traumatic memories of that day: “I realized when I got home I started crying (…) The next day, I didn’t dare go any closer.“
Maxime, his companion, is angry: “I don’t understand how a tree can fall like that, without wind, without anything. She just had to walk a little faster and she was under the tree, the little one too.“
“An unforeseeable accident”
To better understand how this could have happened, we met Christophe Laurent, head of the green spaces department of the municipality of Ixelles where all this took place. It’s a “unforeseeable accident” and exceptional, explains the latter.
“By the looks of it, this tree was healthy. The very dense crown, no dead wood, no fungus,… And so, in my opinion, it suffered all the bad weather in recent months and broke at a height of 7-8 meters. It was invisible to the naked eye. It is believed that there was a flow of water inside the heartwood“, analyse l’expert.
He specifies that there are controls “all the time” and that based on certain signs, they launch more in-depth studies on certain trees. According to our interlocutor, at other times, this system works. Laurence would therefore simply have had bad luck.
Audrey Lhoest, the alderman in charge of these issues in the municipality of Ixelles, confirms: “Zero risk does not exist, but it is extremely rare (this type of accident).” However, to take even less risk, the administration has decided to draw up an inventory of the trees in Ixelles. The aim: “List them, then analyze their state of health to be able to intervene if necessary as quickly as possible to ensure maximum safety“, explains the alderman.
Concretely, these “identity cards“trees in Ixelles will facilitate maintenance and management in the long term. As an indication, there are nearly 6,000 trees on the roads throughout the municipality of Ixelles, therefore not counting green spaces and wooded areas.
Cutting down a tree, who makes the decision and why?
In the case that interested us above, the danger signs were invisible. Fortunately, this is not always the case. To find out more clearly, we spoke to Séverin Pierret, forest ranger at the Nature and Forests Department (DNF) in Bouillon.
He first explains that a tree can face several difficulties: unsurprisingly, “the climate, the violent winds“. Then there may be “health problems, stabilization problems, tree dieback problems which are not necessarily visible to the naked eye.“
So, when should you decide whether or not to cut down a tree? “You should know that there are trees that are protected by land development, so we cannot fell down as we want. At the DNF, we are asked for opinions. At this time, we make a visual diagnosis of the tree in question and if we find that it actually presents problems, we give a notice to authorize the felling.“, develops our interlocutor.
He also specifies that “the mayor has full jurisdiction and can also designate trees to be felled for safety reasons“.
Séverin Pierret lists the criteria which influence the opinion on a tree:
- The root system must be clean, without impact.
- The crown (upper part) must have good foliage, no visible fungus.
- The trunk must be intact. If there are wounds, but they do not go into the core of the tree, it is considered safe for roads.
Safety trees Ixelles tree fall
