The estimated 90-foot tall Sequoia tree at Community Presbyterian Church on the northeast corner of North Circle Drive and Cedar Street came down Tuesday.
The tree had been dying for quite some time, and Southern California Edison retained Pino Tree Service of Idyllwild to bring it down. According to Mike Zambrana of Pino, the base of the tree measured approximately 51 inches in diameter. A 47-inch chain saw was used on the tree stump to lower it to Edison’s requirement.
The tree was taken down from the top in five segments. The man hoisted by crane and lowered to the treetop to do the high-level chain sawing was Zach Baker, 22, the son of the late Bobby Baker, of Idyllwild timber-cutting fame. This was not Baker’s first tree topping. He brought down several on lower Pine Crest Avenue, as well.
