Dear Editor,

There’s a dead tree that’s a fire hazard standing on Lougheed Highway more than five weeks after complaint.

On June 21, I alerted the Pitt Meadows fire chief about this dead tree on the north side of Lougheed Highway just outside our condo complex. I expressed my concern that it could be ignited accidentally or intentionally.

My letter was forwarded to the director of engineering, City of Pitt Meadows. Anengineering technologist there contacted the BC Ministry of Transport, who alerted their contractor responsible for clearing hazardous vegetation along Lougheed Highway.

On June 23, I was told the contractor Mainroad attended and assessed, and said they’d have it down within a week.

On July 8, BC Hydro told me the tree still has structural integrity and it has been flagged for removal whenever they are in the area.

Also on July 8, Pitt Meadows engineering dept told me “Mainroad is planning to do the work but were delayed because of the heat wave and Hydro. As soon as they can, they’ll take care of it.”

On July 12 MLA Lisa Beare’s office told me they’d passed my letter on to the MoT [Ministry of Transportation], which was aware of the tree and has it “flagged for removal. There were some issues around height clearance re: BC Hydro and doing the work in higher fire risk conditions. But as of last week, they planned to have it down within a week. If it hasn’t been removed already, you can rest assured, it’s been prioritized.”

Well, two weeks later, I’m very concerned about the tree, and I’m not feeling very assured it’s been prioritized.

Pat Slatten, Pitt Meadows

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