In addition to two other fallen trees we’ve written about in the neighborhood this week, at Harold Henry Park and at Third and Larchmont, a third tree fell early this morning at Wilshire Crest Elementary School at 5241 W. Olympic Blvd. (a block east of La Brea). This tree, possibly a Melaleuca quinquenervia (“paperbark” tree), was located in a planting bed next to the wall of the school’s cafeteria, on the south side of the campus’ main building. Luckily, the tree fell toward the south, away from the school and into/across Olympic Blvd., probably sometime before 6 a.m. today, and did not hit anything as it fell.
LAUSD crews closed Olympic Blvd. during part of this morning’s early morning commute hours, and were busy removing the tree by 7 a.m. The school’s main gate on Olympic was also closed (students and staff used gates on other sides of the campus), but by the time classes started around 8:30 a.m., the street was clear and traffic was flowing normally again on Olympic. Operations are now back to normal at the school, too.
THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE: We learned this morning that the school arranged for the LAUSD tree crews to save almost all of the tree parts. The crew returned this morning to saw the trunk into slices that can be used as seating in the school’s garden…and the branches and leaves are being mulched for garden use as well. Well done, Wilshire Crest!
