A Livonia family says a county-owned tree fell on their property during storms in July, damaging a camper that served as the only outdoor space equipped for their son Damian, who has special needs. The family says Wayne County has since denied their damage claim and refuses to remove the fallen tree from their yard.
The camper was more than just recreational equipment for the family. According to ClickOnDetroit, it was the only place outside their home equipped for Damian to stay in. The family says the impact left the camper's frame totaled and bent, and they say they cannot afford to replace it on their own.
Barbara Porcek, a family member, told the outlet that she and her neighbors had flagged the growing tree to the county repeatedly before it fell, warning that its branches were creeping toward nearby power lines. She estimated the reports numbered probably eight times or more, though the outlet notes that figure comes from her account rather than a county record. Despite those warnings, the tree came down during the July storms and struck the property.
County Cites Act-Of-Nature Policy in Denial
When the family filed a claim for the damage, Wayne County denied it, telling them the incident fell under a legal policy treating it as an act of nature. Porcek said the ordeal has upended daily life for the family, describing how their lives with their special needs son has been turned upside down.
The county's account of its response differs from what the family says happened next. Wayne County said its forestry division responded to a storm damage request at the beginning of July, and that crews performed ground cleanup only after DTE addressed a limb hanging over power lines. But the family says that despite that response, the county won't come out to remove the fallen tree still sitting on their property.
When Utilities Step In Around Power Lines
The dispute over who is responsible for trimming or removing hazardous trees near power infrastructure isn't unique to this case. Michigan Department of Natural Resources guidance notes that electric utility companies may provide tree trimming or removal when trees are overgrown, damaged, or dead and threaten their lines or equipment \u2014 language that mirrors the family's account of why they kept flagging the tree in the first place.
Livonia has seen tree damage escalate to tragedy before. In a separate incident, a severe storm caused a tree to fall on a Livonia home, killing a young child and injuring the child's mother, according to Fox 2 Detroit. That rescue effort required about a dozen chainsaws and 25 firefighters working for roughly an hour, the station reported, after a suspected low-level EF-1 tornado was noted amid the storm's aftermath.
WXYZ reported that the tree in that incident landed in a bedroom and pinned the child and the child's mother to a bed, and that the mother was taken to the hospital in critical condition following the rescue. The station said the National Weather Service confirmed the tornado as an EF1 with winds estimated at 95 mph, touching down near Schoolcraft Road and Eckles Road before lifting near 7 Mile Road and Middlebelt Road. A separate ClickOnDetroit reference described the child in that case as a 2-year-old boy, differing from the age cited elsewhere in coverage of the incident.
For now, the Livonia family at the center of this dispute is left with a bent camper frame, a fallen tree still on their property, and an act-of-nature denial from the county they say ignored their warnings for months.
