Massive tree crushes home's detached garage in downtown San Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A San Jose homeowner was worried it might happen, and it did. A huge tree in her neighbor's yard came crashing down Thursday morning, crushing the detached garage and narrowly missing the house. It happened near downtown San Jose on North 9th Street.

A temporary chain link fence has been put up to protect the property. The massive tree took out everything in the yard with one exception -- one of two bicycles owned by the teenagers who live there.

"Kinda crazy," said the homeowner's son, 13-year-old Nick Cerros. "It's like we have no more backyard."

It was something that homeowner Liane Cerros always feared. Sky7 HD overhead showed how the tree, estimated to be 50 feet tall, crushed the detached garage with the rest landing across the backyard where the dogs like to play.

Cerros was at work and her teenage sons were at school, so no one was injured. However, the garden tools and other items stored in the garage were damaged.

"The tree is very old and it's big and the branches, limbs, were very big" she said. "And I knew if it ever fell it was going to fall onto my garage. Like, I've been talking to my neighbor (that) we need to do something about this."

ABC7 News attempted to contact the next door neighbor, but no one answered the door.

The neighborhood is filled with old homes near downtown San Jose. Many have been lovingly restored.

The tree appears to be a so-called tree-of-heaven, or Chinese sumac. The trunk appears to have split in half, leaving half of the tree standing and the rest falling onto the neighbor's yard and garage.

The Cerros home was spared, although firefighters checked for damage.

"The fire chief and I walked upstairs to inspect the house and he said it was all secure," Cerros said. "So yes, I'm very grateful that not more damage was done."

A back fence was also damaged and replaced with a temporary chain link fence.