CITY CREWS CONCENTRATING ON VALLEY'S TREE TROUBLES.

Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer

City crews are being redeployed to the San Fernando Valley to deal with tree branches that have snapped off in the record-breaking heat wave, officials said Wednesday.

Crews that usually fill potholes and fix streetlights will instead spend their workdays focusing on the backlog of arboreal injuries, said Darryl Ryan, a spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was alerted to the growing problem last week.

``Everyone is going to pool resources from all the other divisions,'' he said.

Calls from residents to the Los Angeles Department of Street Services Bureau have jumped 50 percent this summer to 3,800, as homeowners complain that giant limbs are breaking off and crashing on sidewalks, front lawns and cars.

Most of those calls have come from the Valley, where the heat has been the most oppressive.

Ryan emphasized that none of the other regular services, including street cleaning and light signal maintenance, will be interrupted. And those 300,000 potholes Villaraigosa challenged employees to fill by the end of the year will get filled, Ryan said.

``We do have the resources to handle it,'' he said. ``Summer's not going to last forever.''

Experts say some species of trees, including liquidambars, sycamores and eucalyptus, have undergone more stress this summer because of triple-digit temperatures. ``Summer limb drop syndrome'' is also occurring because last year's near-record rainy season has encouraged more leaf and limb growth, making trees top-heavy.

Residents living on Elkwood Street in Van Nuys have experienced several limb drops. Crews came to pick up fallen limbs Saturday, one resident said. But another limb fell Sunday.

Some tree-trimming businesses around the San Fernando Valley say calls for services on private properties have increased also, which is unusual. Business at Chatsworth-based Tree Toppers has increased by almost 50 percent, said manager Lee Flinn.

``This is normally our slow time of year,'' she said. ``We don't prune certain trees in the summertime, but we're booked through August.''

Dave Avarim, owner of Thrifty Tree Service, said his crew is roaming Los Angeles and Ventura counties responding to calls of weak limbs.

Part of the problem is that many species of trees should be trimmed in the autumn and winter months.

``Due to the record rainy seasons, the trees have grown so big and heavy,'' he said. ``People are now panicking to get on the list. Within a couple of days, we can have Santa Ana winds and we'll have the same problem.''

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

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Who to call

To report downed tree limbs, call 311, the city's non-emergency hotline, or [phone] to talk to a constituent service representative in the Mayor's Office.

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