Ticking tree bomb finally goes off

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Terry Slone knew this day was coming.

"The tree's been peeling like a banana," Slone says.

On Tuesday it finally split.

"I don't even want to imagine what would've happened," says neighbor Jason Altman.

Thankfully, in a neighborhood full of kids on Grove Avenue none of them were near the tree when it fell.

Instead a swing set and a swimming pool bore the brunt of the blow.

"That's the last thing I want to do is have five or six kids in there and have a tree fall on them and kill them," Slone says.

That's why despite the hot weather, Slone had kept his pool empty.

He knew the tree's bark would be worse than its bite.   

"One time it fell on the house, one time it fell on the apartments, one time it fell on my house," Slone says, listing off the damage done previously by various pieces of the tree.

But what's made the leaning tower of timber a monument to frustration is that it's behind a vacant house long abandoned by its owner. 2 NEWS investigated the situation in February but couldn't find anyone to get rid of the tree.

"We've tried our best to get the tree cut down, but we can't get a hold of the people in the house the tree's on," Altman says.

So they've just been waiting for this ticking tree bomb to go off.

Now it finally has, but it's not done yet.

"This is the last part of it," Slone says about what's left of the tree. "If it falls it's going to take out my garage."

So summer fun will have to wait for the fall.

"I just wish somebody would do something about this because I want to go outside and play," says one kid.

2 NEWS looked into what your rights are in a situation like this one.

You're allowed to cut limbs hanging over your property, but that's it, and you have to pay for it yourself.