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Parks storm closure proposal
Q13 FOX News
SEATTLE -- The city is considering possible changes to the park system after a falling tree killed a Seattle man.
During a severe windstorm last month, a giant Douglas fir crashed onto Eric Medalle’s car in Seward Park, crushing him.
The 42-year-old father was killed instantly, but his toddler in the backseat survived.
“Although it was terribly unfortunate, I don’t think there was much we could have done in advance,” Park Superintendent Jesus Aguirre said.
He added that he is aware of an independent arborist’s analysis saying the tree was rotten at the base.
Last month, a city arborist told Q13 News that there was no obvious sign of rot or damage to the tree. And on Thursday, Aguirre reiterated that there was no way to tell the tree was rotten.
“There is no way we would have been able to see the damage from the outside; it wasn’t a tree that was on our concern list,” Aguirre said.
Although they are calling it an unpredictable tragedy, the city is now reviewing their park policies in light of the tragedy.
“Something clearly was missed. Let’s go back to the drawing board and prevent it from happening in the future,” Seward Park visitor Priscilla Stanzel said.
Around Seward Park, we saw signs that alert people of high car prowl areas. The city says one idea they are considering now is extra signage during severe storms telling people to stay away.
“I feel like it’s a good idea for the parks to take a precaution,” park visitor Tim Mauesby said.
What about shutting down all 465 Seattle parks during bad weather?
“For every dollar that might have to go into shutting down, what, 460 parks, those precious dollars could be spent elsewhere,” park visitor Jim Foppiano said.
The city says the idea is up for discussionm but they admit the logistics may be too complicated for a complete shutdown.
“There are many, many parks with many, many entrances; that would be literally impossible,” Aguirre said.
As they continue their internal investigation into Medalle’s death, the city says its main goal is to look at the incident to see if they can learn anything.
The city says they do a good job of monitoring problem trees but the tree that fell on Medalle’s car was never on their radar.