Trees

An apartment balcony was damaged Saturday when a palm tree ignited from a lit cigarette butt, officials said. Someone threw the butt into dry pine needles, which spread to a palm tree and on to the apartment balcony in the 2100 block of Valderas Drive, Battalion Chief Gregory Godfrey said. No one was injured in the blaze, which he said was quickly contained to the balcony. Veronica Rocha

A parolee who allegedly fled the scene of crash on the Golden State (5) Freeway overnight Monday was eventually captured after he fell out of a tree. Glendon Mullican of North Hollywood, was taken to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center after he fell roughly 35 feet to the ground at about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. The incident prompted authorities to close the freeway near Burbank Boulevard during the search. Police were called to Interstate 5 between Scott Road and Burbank Boulevard at about 12:05 a.m. Tuesday after reports that Mullican, 40, allegedly fled the scene after crashing his car on the freeway onramp at San Fernando Boulevard.

The 65-foot Sierra white fir destined for the White House as the nation's official Christmas tree will first make a stop at the Autry National Center near Griffith Park, organizers announced this week. The stop will be one of many for the white fir -- scheduled to be cut down Saturday in the remote Stanislaus National Forest in Central California -- on its trek to the White House. Before the tree heads east, organizers will take it on a 20-day tour of 12 cities in California. It is just the fourth time the state has provided the "The People's Tree" since the tradition was started in 1964, according to the announcement from U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Coordinator Maria Benech.

Four Covina teens suffered broken bones early Sunday when their drunk driver crashed into a tree on Honolulu Avenue after leaving a Halloween costume party, police said. The teens were taken to local hospitals to be treated for their injuries, but the driver, Eric Corona, 19, of Covina was not injured, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. “Officers had to ask if the blood was real or fake because they were in costumes,” he said. “The blood was real.” Corona, who wasn't wearing a costume, was arrested on suspicion of felony driving under the influence at about 4:34 a.m. after crashing into a large tree at the southeast corner of Honolulu Avenue and Ocean View Boulevard, according to Glendale police reports.

A car has slammed into a tree in the 2800 block of Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale after what may have been a street race, police said. Witnesses reported the crash near Scholl Canyon at 1:37 p.m., but it was not immediately clear if anyone was hurt. Officers have detained three people who may have been involved in the crash, police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. The occupants of the vehicle reportedly threatened one witness in an attempt to dissuade them from calling police to report the crash, Lorenz added.

Two cars traveling at high speed on Glenoaks Boulevard slammed into separate trees Tuesday afternoon. Their occupants escaped with minor injuries, police said. The crashes were reported at about 1:35 p.m. in the 2800 block of Glenoaks Boulevard near Scholl Canyon and involved a small Infiniti sedan and a Toyota Camry. The two cars apparently were traveling together when the driver of the first car lost control and hit a tree, police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. In an effort to avoid that crash, the driver of the second car also lost control, striking another tree.

The trees! Where have all the trees gone? Gone to tree grinders, everyone. Beautiful trees along the Golden State (5) Freeway north and south through Burbank are being systematically destroyed, and for what? A carpool lane on the freeway! What a waste. No one uses carpool lanes, and those who do use them as race tracks. So, the beautiful trees and shrubs are being destroyed, never to be replaced. Oh, we might get walls with designs on them and eventually graffiti, but no trees.

The trees! Where have all the trees gone? Gone to tree grinders, everyone. Beautiful trees along the Golden State (5) Freeway north and south through Burbank are being systematically destroyed and for what? A car pool lane on the freeway! What a waste. No one uses car pool lanes and those who do use them as race tracks. So, the beautiful trees and shrubs are being destroyed never to be replaced. Oh, we might get walls with designs on them and eventually graffiti, but no trees.

Glendale isn't the only place where residents can find themselves in a tree quagmire. In La Cañada Flintridge, one woman is struggling to get a tree removed that she says is damaging her back patio, but city officials have been holding off on approving the application until their own arborists can verify that the roots are the culprit. Meanwhile, Roberta Dominguez's months-long quest to remove the Chinese elm tree from the back yard of her La Cañada home will last at least a month longer since she was unable to obtain a city-approved arborist's report in time for a Planning Commission meeting.

Twenty-one years after planting an unidentifiable sapling, a Glendale resident is looking to give away the now 40-foot palm tree. “Anybody that comes and digs it out and hauls it, they've got it,” said Ed Genshock, who has lived in the 400 block of Maple Street since 1990. The tree is rooted along Genshock's property line between the house and a neighbor's driveway. It has grown so large that it is now overwhelming an adjacent chain-link fence and cement parking pad. “It is protruding in my neighbor's driveway and they park their cars there, and a lot of sap is dripping on their cars,” Genshock said.