Detroit man waits days for city to take its 70-foot tree off house

DETROIT (WJBK) - A Detroit home was crushed by a massive tree earlier this week during the storms -- and the City didn't have it removed until three days later. 

Kelvin McCray was standing at the front door of his home on Beniteau, watching that storm Monday when the tree in front of the home next door came crashing down on him.

"The storm, it was raining extremely hard and the wind started blowing extremely hard," he said. "Next thing I know, it's toppled. When I saw it coming in the direction of the house, I ran for the back of the house and there was a big boom. The house shook and I knew then the house was destroyed."

When he was finally able to climb outside and survey the damage, he called the City. It was their tree that had toppled onto his home.

"I've been calling the City ever since then, trying to get this removed," McCray said.

An inspector came out that night to see the damage and put up some caution tape. Then he waited, and his wife and kids waited. McCray even stayed home from work, waiting, for the City to come and take their tree off his house.

"This is a dangerous tree down here and it's their responsibility to get this tree up," he said. "If it was my responsibility you would be quick to tell me, hey it's on your property, you're responsible for it, get it done. So I think the same should apply to the city if it's your responsibility - get it done."

Finally, he reached out to FOX 2. We contacted the mayor's office Thursday and before long crews were here and hard at work

A spokesperson for the mayor's office says it took so long to get here because the city had 90 trees down in this area alone. All were a result of those straight-line winds with gusts of up to 60 miles per hour.

"We had to filter through many complaints," said Tiffany Crawford, a spokesperson for the city's general services department. She says the city must clear streets for emergency vehicles first, and this situation with this huge tree was a big job. 

"This is a very large tree," she said. "Which is harder to remove than a small tree. So the crew had to be prepared to break the tree down and remove it from the house and also be safe as well."

McCray was just grateful to have the tree off his house so he can start the repairs.

"Now I can get some contractors out here," he said. "And get some estimates on how much it will take to put the house back together."