South Philly Neighbors Fight To Get Fallen Tree Cleaned up

Michael Reed put up a fence around the backyard of his South Philly row home for privacy and so his son could have a secure yard to play in.

He had it until now.

"It's a 50 foot tree. It's pretty dangerous," said Reed. The tree hanging over his fence and some wires aren't his.

During Hurricane Sandy, it fell from a yard across the alleyway behind his house. It's been there ever since.

"Wires aren't supposed to be running across my son's basketball court," said Reed. 

MaryEllen Holmes says parts of it also damaged her home.

"My chimney was knocked down," she said.

Neighbors called Licenses and Inspections. They came out the day after the storm and cited Premier Real Estate the company that owns and rents the property. They gave them 10 days for cleanup.

The owner told FOX 29 he sent out a crew Thursday but they weren't equipped to do the job.

He now says a landscaping company will be out Friday morning to haul the tree away.

Neighbors fear another day might be too late.

"We do have the logs and everything up on the roof. They're handing down. You can open up your back door at any time and things just fly down," said Holmes.

L & I said they cited the company for an immanently dangerous tree. They face a fine every day beyond the 10 business days they were allotted to clean up. The citation was issued November 2nd.