Seclusion Bay fire victims suing

[Treblehook]

High winds knock over trees regularly. Such events are most frequently classed as "Acts of God", are they not? Why do the various hydro suppliers go out and trim the limbs from trees that are close to hydro lines? Are they not responsible for ensuring that there is nothing that might encroach upon or create a hazard by being close to the transmission lines. An uninsured person going after a neighbor because a tree was blown over onto hydro lines by high winds still seems a bit much to me. That's only my opinion, which is one of many, so don't get all worked up about it.

[dirtguy]

*removed*

[Ken7]

High winds knock over trees regularly. Such events are most frequently classed as "Acts of God", are they not? Why do the various hydro suppliers go out and trim the limbs from trees that are close to hydro lines? Are they not responsible for ensuring that there is nothing that might encroach upon or create a hazard by being close to the transmission lines. An uninsured person going after a neighbor because a tree was blown over onto hydro lines by high winds still seems a bit much to me. That's only my opinion, which is one of many, so don't get all worked up about it.

If there is a 70 foot tall pine tree thirty feet away from a hydro line they don't trim it. If there is a tree directly under the line and it is potentially going to grow into the line they cut it to the ground.

Back to the big tree, if it blows over will it possibly come into contact with the hydro line. Think about it, if that was the case the hydro company would need to clear cut a path over 200 feet wide to accommodate each and every power line that accesses a property. You think you hydro is expensive right now, start clear cutting each line!

[TreeGuy]

The specifications for line clearance trimming is 3 meters clearance for single and 3 phase lines. The service lines that run to your house require 1 meter clearance. The utility company is responsible for keeping this clearance on their right of ways. The service line to your home is your responsibility.

[TreeGuy]

How do you know the tree was overgrown? Wind gusts hit 90 km per hour that day, I've seen perfectly healthy trees fall over in conditions like that.

Perfectly healthy trees generally do not just fall over. A perfectly healthy looking tree might fall over, but it is usually because the root system is rotting away, the soil around the tree has been disturbed by excavation or the trees around the a tree have been removed exposing it to wind events which it has not been exposed to before. Another contributing factor to whole tree failure is a heavy rain event. A saturated soil can provide lubrication to the root system which compromises the root system.

Partial tree failure is usually caused by defects in the stem, weak branch or stem attachments or tissue damage done by borers like the Pine Beetle.

[Frisk]

.

[youhavegottobekidding]

I had this sort of thing happen to me once, but not as serious. I was felling trees around my house as these trees were rotting from within. Since I was doing this I asked my neighbor if he wanted this certain tree cut as it had the same disease and said "Oh no I will look after it". Well lo and behold about 2 weeks later sometime during the night that tree fell on my large metal shed and crushed it along with a lot of stuff. My insurance went after his Insurance and they had to pay for everything, and my insurance advised me to send Registered letters to both neighbors warning them that IF any of those trees fell on our property and damaged our property they would be responsible for all costs if they do NOT remove the remaining trees..........worked out fine. Does not male for friendly neighbors after that tho

[kelscher]

Corrct me if i am wrong but if you don't have insurance and your house burns down, you still own the land which in this case is the bulk of his 6 million valuation. In other words,if the land was worth 5.5 million and his house was worth about 500,000 and if he had no insurance then he still has the land which for lack of a better example would still be worth 5.5 million.

[kgcayenne]

It all depends on what is owing on the property versus what someone is willing to pay for it. Property values without a confirmed sale are technically imaginary numbers derived from inflated hopes, methinks.

[Ken7]

The specifications for line clearance trimming is 3 meters clearance for single and 3 phase lines. The service lines that run to your house require 1 meter clearance. The utility company is responsible for keeping this clearance on their right of ways. The service line to your home is your responsibility.

I'm aware of that, but if you want to ensure no trees every fall on a line, you know how tall these pines grow.

[DoDo1975]

I am a little curious what FortisBC has to do with all this?

This is BC Hydro territory.

[just popping in]

I am a little curious what FortisBC has to do with all this?

This is BC Hydro territory.

Supreme Court link:

http://rosaceous4.rssing.com/browser.ph ... &item=2079

[gordon_as]

I feel bad that anyone should lose almost everything , even the property is being foreclosed on , however , A year prior to this incident another fire came within 200 meters ( his own words ) of their property. That was a warning that should have been heeded. The gentleman also stated that his house insurance was $5000. This was an older 1000 sq ft home , so why is the insurance 4 x what I pay ? A house on the lake costs the same to rebuild as a house 4 blocks away from the waterfront. Is not insurance based on the cost of rebuilding ? Could he have been over insuring previously based on his over valuation of the property as a whole ?
I also feel bad that they had to spend the winter in their $500,000 vacation property in Mexico. Let me be the first to graciously offer a house swap next winter .

Us : Boat ? , no. , Motorcycle ? , no. Lakefront home ? , hahaha , Vacation property in Mexico ? , only if I win the lotery , House insurance ? , ya , duh

[cv23]

The gentleman also stated that his house insurance was $5000. This was an older 1000 sq ft home , so why is the insurance 4 x what I pay ? A house on the lake costs the same to rebuild as a house 4 blocks away from the waterfront. Is not insurance based on the cost of rebuilding ? Could he have been over insuring previously based on his over valuation of the property as a whole ?

Insurance rates are not simply based on cost to rebuild but also on the risk that rebuilding might become necessary. Lack of fire dept coverage, distance to nearest fire hydrant. interface area, smoker in the home, flood plain, etc all drastically effect insurance rates.