CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Two Norfolk pines will be removed near the Engle home on Beckwith Street, along with five others, after a decayed tree fell on sleeping seventh-grader Julia Engle on March 15.

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City to remove
7 trees at injury site

A girl hit by a falling pine tree
is still in a coma but improving

Contractors will remove seven Norfolk pine trees on Beckwith Street in Manoa today, a couple of weeks after a huge pine crashed into a home on the street and struck a 12-year-old girl.

"I feel that the interest of safety and health is of the utmost concern, and I want to make sure that we do as much as we can to prevent future accidents from occurring," Mayor Mufi Hannemann said yesterday at a news conference.

The city hired Trees of Hawaii Inc. to remove seven of the 15 pine trees on Beckwith Street. Work will continue tomorrow if necessary.

"The trees were prioritized. We'll take the worst ones down first and proceed to the seventh tree," said Urban Forestry Administrator Stan Oka.

Hannemann noted that he plans to eventually replace the trees that are being removed. "We're not ready to say exactly what kind of tree that will be," he said, adding that the plan is to consult with the community, Outdoor Circle and tree experts.

Julia Engle, a seventh-grader at Punahou School, remains in a coma at the Queen's Medical Center after she was struck in the head by a Norfolk Island pine while sleeping on the morning of March 15.

"I continue to feel very sorry for the accident that occurred a few weeks ago," Hannemann said.

Engle has since showed signs of improvement.

Engle's attorney, Rick Fried, said her family had noticed voluntary movement of her left leg. "She is now moving her eyes side to side. She is still in a coma. Her doctors say she's in stable condition but with some slight improvement. Her youth is certainly on her side," Fried said.

Last night, Engle was moved out of the intensive care unit to a regular floor in the hospital, he said. She was in a wheelchair when a pillow dropped, and she picked it up to some degree, Fried said.

He added that her neurosurgeon recently did a brain scan on Engle that did not show much change, but doctors are giving her drugs as a precaution to prevent seizures.

Fried commended Hannemann for taking quick action on removal of the seven trees. "I certainly think it's the right thing to do," he said.

Arborist Steve Nimz of the Tree People was hired by the city to inspect the trees.

At the news conference, Nimz said he did a three-prong inspection of the pine trees on Beckwith Street: a visual check, aerial check and tree cavity check with the use of a Resistograph, an instrument that detects the amount of decay in the interior of the tree.

There were three trees that had more decay than the others, said Nimz, that was caused by termites.

Hannemann said the city would not comment on the inspection of the pine tree that fell on Engle's home.

Some residents on Beckwith Street said they were happy to see the city take swift action.

"I think it's great," said Claire Higa, who lives next to the Engles. Two pine trees in front of her home will be removed today. One of them is leaning toward her house.

Toshiko Nakata, who lives a few homes away from the Engles, said she is worried about a pine tree that is near her bedroom and is not slated for removal by the city. Nakata had attached her mailbox to another pine tree that will be removed.

Dolly Tave, a cousin of Engle's mother, Debbie, who lives directly across from the Engles, said she is glad that a pine tree in front of her home is one of the seven to be removed.

"I can't sleep at night," Tave said.