Neighbors in Oakwood community say large trees threaten quality of life

According to the neighbors, trees that don't reside on their property have fallen, causing damage to homes and car and could possible kill someone

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Glendola Lewis says fear looms over her house in the Oakwood community. Massive trees have proven they can cause destruction in her neighborhood at any moment, whether to a car or a home.

When ABC 36 last spoke with Lewis and Leo Wilson they told us the community was trying to contact Kentucky Utilities because of these giant trees  that hover above a utility line.

“I understand if a person has put a tree in their yard and their property, but these trees are in the utility line and it is not our property and its not for us to cut the trees down,” explains Lewis.

Wilson says another fear is that these trees could fall break and bring down large utility poles and cause a fire. That’s something that’s happened before in the neighborhood.

“There was a tree that fell on the power line and it caught fire and KU came out and cut the tree and hauled it off,” explains Wilson.

“Here was are asking them not to cut the whole tree down but just to top it down just for safety and we can’t even get that,” adds Lewis.

Lewis says these prior experiences have caused many sleepless nights, especially with high winds and lots of rain expected this week.

“That scares me that we are supposed to get 60 mph winds with those trees because I don’t have babies these are monster trees,” says Lewis.

Lewis says she’ll often vacate during severe weather. She says her house and others sit on a hill where heavy rain can soften the dirt, causing the heavy trees to uproot.

Kentucky Utilities gave us an update saying an expert spoke with the neighbors today and reported their power lines are not at risk of catching fire or interacting with tree limbs at this point..

In the event a tree falls and becomes a threat to the power line… Crews would trim or even remove the tree. Any other damage on the property though, would be up to the property owners.

The neighbors say they are beside themselves and are fearful of losing their homes and much more.

“It’s not just me and you (Wilson), it’s a whole line of people right there that got trees up in the heavens and they need to be cut down because somebody is going to get hurt somebody may even get killed,” says Lewis.