TULSA, Okla. — Locally owned tree removal companies have their work cut out for them as cleanup efforts in Tulsa continue into the weekend.
Sunday’s early morning storm not only brought down tree limbs, but Todd Rickert, a certified arborist, said it uprooted a lot of trees, making the storm clean-up time consuming and dangerous.
“We just plucked these limbs off this house,” explained Gaige Fuhrman. “There was really no other safe way to do it.”
Fuhrman, the owner of Golden Arbor Tree Service of Tulsa runs a tight ship. He and his brother, along with four guys, make up the entire work crew that’s tackled about 30 jobs so far.
He said there are 200 more on his wait list.
“There’s no equipment to rent to help us get these jobs done faster,” Fuhrman explained. “It’s all manpower, so we’re having to buy new equipment just to keep up with the workload.”
We ran into Fuhrman and his crew Friday morning as they were wrapping up work on a large tree that had been uprooted near 16th Street and Newport Avenue in Midtown.
Homeowners Allie and Rob Gallant, who were at home when the tree came crashing down, now have a homemade sign in their yard expressing their gratitude for their neighbors who stepped in to help in the aftermath of the storm.
“We hadn’t slept and when we got up that morning, we got up to the chainsaws,” Allie said. “Our neighbors had gotten from this end of the street to that end of the street because it completely blocked it.”
Thankfully the tree, which is right next to the house, fell away from their home, instead of into it.
We asked Allie what prompted her to post signs in her yard which reads: Friends, we are utterly appreciative of you for all you did for us! Thank you! The Gallant Family.
“It means so much,” Gallant explained. “Truly, it was one of those things you don’t expect in life.”
The couple moved into the neighborhood right before the 2007 ice storm.
Certified Arborist Todd Rickert with Rickert Tree Service said what’s different about this storm, versus the ice storm in 2007, is the number of trees that have been completely uprooted, like the huge one we found in someone’s back yard off Utica Avenue.
Rickert said the stump alone weighs about ten tons, and that removing a tree of this size and height is something that no homeowner should tackle alone.
He said it’s important for those with large, downed trees to contact a tree professional.
“You cannot predict how this tree is going to move, how this tree is going to react” Rickert said. “If this tree rolls and moves, you’re going to be crushed, and you’re going to be killed before the fire department can come get this tree up because they would have to have someone like us come in and help them.”
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