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Oak tree crunches house, car in Valley Springs

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High winds and moist earth contributed to a tree falling onto a house on Danaher Drive in Valley Springs at about noon Monday.

Renee Miller was inside her home when the old live oak tree crashed into a corner of the building and covered two cars parked outside the garage.

“I heard something hit the car more than any sound on the house,” Miller said. “Then I noticed the phone went dead.”

She called her husband, Larry, who was at work in Lodi. “I just came home to see what happened,” Larry said upon arriving about an hour later. He quickly looked under the fallen branches to check on the 1964 Ford Ranchero he was preparing as a show car.

“(The tree) crunched the roof up pretty good,” Larry said.

The Millers recently had an inspector from the Calaveras County Building Department visit their property in preparation for Larry building a shop. Renee said the inspector said the tree would have to be left alone.

“It was an absolutely beautiful tree,” Renee said. “It was so strong and sturdy we never thought it would go over.”

Foothill Fire Protection District Chief Rick Schuler and a firefighter arrived to help the Millers free a Ford Thunderbird that also was buried under the branches. The car was not damaged in the incident, Renee said.

A relatively small patch over a corner of the garage was all the damage that resulted from the tree coming down.

Calaveras Enterprise story by Mike Taylor. For more Calaveras news. click: calaverasenterprise.com.

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