Here's how Summit County residents can assess tree health on their property

Summit County residents have many things to worry about when a storm touches down in their area.

However, a tree crashing through the roof of a home happens more often than people might think — with or without serious storms.

"We probably get called out at least once or twice a month [for tree removal]; sometimes there's no storms, the ground is so saturated with water from these recent storms that trees will uproot and fall over," said Lisa Devenport, president of the Barberton Tree Service. "Trees are so heavy now with foliage this time of the year so when a storm comes through, it's not surprising to receive these calls about uprooted trees hitting homes or garages."

Sometimes, the consequences can be tragic.

Crews from Barberton Tree Service were called Wednesday to help remove a large tree that had crashed into an Akron home on Sumner Street, killing a 33-year-old man.

How can homeowners check if trees on their property are at risk?

There are things homeowners can do on their own to assess the health of their trees, Devenport said.

She said minor things people can look for would be rot or fungus around the base of a tree, in addition to heightened insect activity.

"If you see a lot of insect holes at the bottom of the trees, just a lot of insects going in and out of the tree, or any cracks, then that's a sign to get the trees professionally examined," she said.

Jon Malish, Akron's parks maintenance superintendent and city arborist, said other signs to look out for include large, hollow cavities in the trunk of a tree; large, dead branches; and cracks or splits in the trunk, especially where branches are attached.

"This is not an exhaustive list of signs, but a good checklist of tree health," Malish said. "Additionally, if a tree has been recently damaged during a storm or high wind, it may be worth getting it checked out."

Malish stressed the importance of having trees professionally inspected and regularly maintained to ensure a long-lasting, healthy tree.

"Every tree owner should have routine maintenance such as pruning conducted on their trees by a certified arborist," Malish said. "Proper maintenance increases the safety of your property, but also improves the health of the tree and may increase its longevity."

Devenport echoed his points.

"A lot of times we try to tell people to get their preventative maintenance done, get your preventative trimming done for these trees and take note of anything that looks out of order on the tree and have a tree service take a look at it," Devenport said.

Man killed after tree falls through Sumner Street, Akron home

While tree falling incidents don't always result in someone losing their life, deaths can occur. On Wednesday, Paul Matvey, 33, of Akron was killed when a tree fell on a home on Sumner Street. Barberton Tree Service was responsible for removing the tree in that incident so firefighters to get to the victim.

"We had crews on the scene within 40 minutes of receiving the call for tree removal, and within three hours we had everything set up where our crews could make entry and cut through the piece of wood that unfortunately trapped the victim's body," Devenport said. "It took some time to remove the piles of debris before it was safe enough to remove the victim."

Devenport said someone showed her footage from their doorbell camera of the tree crashing through the home.

"The tree started leaning and then a strong gust of wind got a hold of the tree and caused it to be ripped in half, and it just fell straight through the entire home," Devenport said. "The structure of the home was completely compromised by the force of the tree hitting it so hard."

Devenport said throughout her 27 years working for the tree removal company she has never experienced an incident where an uprooted tree resulted in someone's death. She said the Akron Fire Department helped her crew deal with the mental anguish that could arise due to working around dead bodies.

"Our guys aren't trained for dealing with dead bodies so for the city to offer this support is incredible," she said.

Devenport recalled that she had worked jobs in the past where people were trapped by fallen trees on their houses, but never an instance where someone was killed and rescue workers couldn't get to them.

"It was an incredibly sad and unfortunate situation, and I can't thank my crew enough for the work they did, how hard it must have been to work in a situation like this where a deceased person is involved," she said.

Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@gannett.com, or on Twitter @athompsonABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How Summit County homeowners can check tree health, prevent falls