Beetle infestation means end to 90-year-old tree in Burbank

Whenever Michael Ragan returned to Burbank after a long trip, he knew he was home when he saw the tall deodar cedar tree that stood on his front lawn.

However, bark beetles also noticed the tree, which is native to the Himalayas. The nearly 90-year-old tree at 626 S. Sunset Canyon Drive had to be cut down this past weekend after the insects weakened the tree to the point where it had become a safety hazard.

A tree removal crew arrived at the house on Saturday, first cutting off the brittle branches before removing the rest of the cedar.

Ragan, 59, who now lives in Dallas, Texas, said beetles infested the tree about four years ago, and the insects quickly started going to town on the tree.

“[They] started attacking some of the limbs, and then finally, over the last year, [they] just really accelerated pretty quick,” he said. “The tree could’ve stayed, but if we got a pretty powerful Santa Ana wind, the fear was that it would have dropped on someone’s car.”

The Sunset Canyon house has been in Burbank since the early 1920s, Ragan said, adding that his grandfather, who worked for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, built the house with a few co-workers over several weekends.

It was meant to be a speculative house, but when Ragan’s grandfather couldn’t sell it, he decided to move in instead. After several years of living in the Burbank home, Ragan’s grandfather decided to plant the deodar cedar, which was a popular ornamental tree found outside many Los Angeles homes during the 1920s.

“He plunked it into the ground in about 1927 or 1928, and it just kept on growing,” Ragan said.

Ragan said it has been a while since he was last at his childhood house, where his mother Doris still lives. He said he can’t imagine the tree, a large fixture that Ragan and his siblings used to play on and around when they were children, not being there anymore.

Although his mother told him she was glad to see the tree removed because she has a cleaner-looking front lawn, Ragan said it will probably be a bittersweet moment when he comes back to Burbank in October.

“It will kind of tug a little bit to see it gone,” he said.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio