ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (7 Hours to Remove 2 Broken Limbs)

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Dear Station Members,

The news cutting given below may sound like an amusement to some of our Tree Professionals, but ISA HK/China have great appreciation for the efforts of the Firemen involved who have overcome difficulties & accomplished mission with their best trying methods.

The news below in Chinese described how when two 30 cm broken limbs of a 12 m tree rested in the canopy with potential to hit a house nearby, the brave Firemen had tried with Aerial Platform first but failed to reach the tree, & had to eventually use ladder to climb up to remove the broken branches. It was described that one lane of the two lane road was blocked several times for machineries deployment to cause traffic chaos, & the whole removal process took around 7 hours.

From the photo attached, it could be seen that the brave Firemen were wearing their usual fire-fighting uniform to use ladder to reach the broken limbs at approx. 5 m from ground to cut them down with their tools.

For emergency situation in HK, the usual scenario would be that the Police would be first informed & if the case involves public danger, .e.g. fire, traffic accident, suicide by jumping off the roof, etc., it would be the Fire Services which would be notified to come on site for rescue. This appears to apply to Tree Failure incidents as well.

On the other hand, the HK Firemen are usually equipped in the standard protocols of fire-fighting equipment & rescue tools. Their PPE are not by any international standard for Tree Climbing. Their saws are meant to cut steel body of crashed cars & metal gates for entry for rescue. Some of them have been trained to abseil from above to descend to grab suiciders from jumping off height, but not to ascend on rope in places where aerial lift & ladder can not be deployed.

Qualified Tree Workers are trained to access tree from ground on rope in event where aerial platform & ladder can not be used. They are trained to use chainsaws to cut wood, be it intact or broken. Qualified Tree Workers such as ISA Certified Tree Workers (CTW) have all got to learn & pass First Aid & Aerial Rescue before they are allowed to take their CTW exam. Our Independent Practicing Arborists (IPA, http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/2008/08/isa-hkchina-independent-practicing.html) are masters of the situation & can operate chainsaws with Rigging at elevated heights to perform Tree Work.

At about the same time of this incident, the Station Manager had removed 2 no. of +15 m Casuarina trees outside Deep Water Bay amidst busy traffic without road blocking in under 3 hours with a gang of mere 4 Ground Workers. From the description & photo given below, he is confident to remove the said two limbs in under an hour without traffic blocking with his own crew & equipment.

Therefore, it is our admiration for the brave Firemen to conduct Tree Work for us to safe-guard public safety. On the other hand, if some of them have the interest to come & learn our Arborist skills for Tree Work, they may find it rewarding to do the work faster with less resources to cause less public inconveniences for the same result.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager

"If a tree is not designed, installed, maintained & inspected properly, it is likely to become a liability rather than an asset."

"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."


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枝椏斷裂險壓村屋 爬樹鋸除擾七句鐘

(x報) 2009年10月23日 星期五 0x:x0

【x報專訊】西貢清水灣道一棵生長在斜坡上的大樹，昨早有兩條樹椏折斷搖搖欲墜，危及下面村屋，消防到場疏散住客，召梯台車到場協助鋸樹，惟樹木橫枝交錯，消防員最後要爬上離地5米高樹幹，擾攘近7小時始把斷裂枝椏鋸斷移除。

事件中消防曾先後召升降台和梯台車到場協助鋸樹，其間數度封閉清水灣道其中一條行車線，因上址僅雙線來回行車，導致交通十分擠塞，大批往科技大學方向的市民要落車沿馬路步行。

疏散居民 數度封路

現場為西貢清水灣道近打鼓嶺新村松濤苑後山一處斜坡。昨早8時30分，一棵12米高大樹的其中兩支離地5米、直徑1呎的樹椏折斷，擱在旁枝上，惟斷裂枝椏壓向松濤苑其中一棟的屋頂，途人恐枝椏塌下壓毁房屋，大驚報案。消防接報到場率先把屋內居民疏散，並先後召升降台和梯台車到場，因大樹生長在斜坡中間位置，離馬路一段距離，即使把梯台車的升降台升起，亦無法伸延到斷椏位置。消防最後徒手游繩爬上樹幹，坐在樹椏上鋸樹，至下午3時才完成任務。

放大
消防員面對大樹的兩條折斷樹椏，一度束手，最終要游繩爬上大樹上鋸斷樹椏化解危機。（xxx攝）
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