Woman Unhurt as Tree Crushes Car

A woman whose car was crushed by a 60-foot tree Thursday evening says she is lucky to be alive.

Karen Kramer, 35, of Ventura, a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office, was driving east on Woodland Street near Balboa Middle School at about 6 p.m. when she heard a “crack” outside her 1986 Toyota Camry.

“The next thing I know there is this big boom and I’m covered by leaves,” Kramer said.

Two huge branches from a towering ficus tree had fallen, blocking both lanes of traffic and damaging two cars. No one was injured, authorities said.

A dark spot at the point where two 40-foot sections broke away from the trunk indicated a weakness because of an accumulation of water, said Jack Edmondson of the Ventura Public Works Department. Residents said the collapse represents the third fallen tree in the last two years on the same street.

Kramer’s car, its windows shattered and its top dented, was nearly invisible beneath the huge canopy of leaves.

“I was almost home and I guess God decided to send me a wake-up call,” Kramer said.

Ron and Dorothy Hobbs own the second damaged car--a 1995 Ford Escort that was crushed from the roof to the base of the window on the driver’s side.

Nearby residents said they were happy the branches didn’t fall during school, when the sidewalk beneath the tree is crowded with children who attend the middle school.