Tree crushes car in La Cañada during winter rainstorm
A tree fell and crushed a man’s car on Monday as he was driving through a residential area of La Cañada Flintridge.
The unidentified man was driving down Descanso Drive near Shepherds Lane when a large oak tree tumbled down onto the passenger side of his silver Honda sedan, breaking through the front windshield and causing the air bags to deploy.
Sgt. Jeffrey Curran, with the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, said the 44-year-old driver was uninjured from the incident and declined medical treatment.
“That man is lucky to be alive, [the tree] crushed the whole top of the car,” he said. “Just a few inches more to the left and it would’ve killed him.”
Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Heather Hogelund said said the wet weather on Monday contributed to the tree toppling over.
“It was incredibly wet,” Hogelund said. “The rain totally saturated the soil, and the tree was pulled right out of the ground.”
Monday saw heavy rain fall across the Southland in the first of two winter storms systems to hit the area this week with the second expected to occur Christmas morning.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the first bout of rain brought flooded roadways and caused a tree to fall and trap a homeless man in Echo Park.
