Thadd Williams has always been concerned about the 65-foot tree in front of his Montrose home, due to its height, size and proximity to power lines.

“It was always a pretty tree, but I was worried that if it ever fell on the power lines, it could spark a fire, cause a power outage or fall on my house or my neighbor’s,” Williams said. The tree branches closest to the power lines were regularly removed by specially trained Southern California Edison contract crews. “But when it was decided this past summer to remove the tree for safety reasons, I fully supported that decision,” he added.

In some cases, a tree’s size and location may leave vegetation management crews with no choice but to remove a significant amount of foliage to meet state clearance guidelines. Trees can sometimes pose hazards that can only be mitigated by dramatically cutting back limbs or removing the tree entirely.

Before work begins, SCE’s specially trained contract vegetation crews place a door hanger at the property up to 45 days in advance, notifying the owner about the tree work scheduled to take place. A marker is placed on the tree, and door hangers are left at the homes of neighbors within 500 feet. A second door hanger is left at the property 24-48 hours before the crew arrives. If removal is required, the property owner will be contacted in person, except in cases of an imminent risk to public safety.

SCE also notifies the local government — in Williams’ case, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works — in advance.

“Before any vegetation work takes place, we do our best to notify all parties involved. We always inspect trees located near power lines first to make sure they are in compliance with state guidelines,” said David Guzman, SCE vegetation and forestry manager. “On the scheduled day of the tree work, where possible, we will remove or prune 12 feet of distance between a tree and power line in high fire risk areas to ensure the minimum clearance distance of four feet is never threatened.”

State regulations require utilities to trim trees and vegetation so they don’t grow into or fall into high-voltage power lines.

“We always recommend that property owners call us first before doing any type of vegetation work near power lines themselves,” said Guzman. “If you hire a tree trimmer, they must be electrically qualified to work around power lines and they must still prune the tree to meet utility safety standards.”

As part of its Wildfire Mitigation Plan, SCE inspects about 1.5 million trees a year, including palms, and annually prunes more than 900,000 across its service area. More than 40% are in high fire risk areas. This critical work not only reduces the threat of a possible wildfire but also enhances service reliability.

Williams says he’s relieved his tree was removed, and a more appropriate tree will be planted in its place.

“I don’t have to worry about high winds causing the tree to topple over onto my home or street anymore. I’m also happy that the work was done, free of charge,” he said.