Atlanta

Families say falling trees are putting their lives in danger

ATLANTA — Families in one local neighborhood said trees continue to fall and they are putting people in danger.

One local resident shared a picture with Channel 2's Carl Willis that shows a tree that fell on power lines along Marietta Road in northwest Atlanta and caught fire.

The community is starting to get action, but residents said they still drive with fear, especially after a storm.

"You can just go down Marietta Road and just see them hanging there," Torrey Fike said. "Every time there's a thunderstorm, it seems like one of them comes down, and it's usually flames and sparks and emergency vehicles and the whole neighborhood gets blacked out."

Residents said the falling trees are becoming all too frequent.

"I think yesterday there was a fire that came behind the neighborhood which was dangerous to the houses here," Jen Fernandes said.

Fernandes said she was turning out of her neighborhood when a tree fell right on her car.

"It stopped traffic and I wasn't hurt, but I could have been. It was too close of a call," Fernandes said.

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Willis reached out to Georgia Power since many of those trees are just resting on power lines. Officials told Channel 2 Action News they are aware.

A spokesperson said:

"We are proactively working to remove specific dead or diseased trees in the affected area that could threaten our power lines."

- Craig Bell, Georgia Power 

Residents said the sooner the better, but they believe the threat is bigger than two trees.

"Anybody could be driving and get hit by the tree," Fernandes said.

"A lot of people use this road, and I think it would be good for the various powers that be to address it," Fike said. "If someone were to get hurt or killed, we would look back and say, 'Why didn't we deal with this threat?'"

Georgia Power advises residents to call the company to report any potential dangers to their system including leaning trees.