No one injured after tree falls on LaGrange home

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 30, 2015

2 inside not injured

By Tyler H. Jones

tjones@civitasmedia.com

A LaGrange police officer and bystanders inspect a home in the 500 block of Springdale Drive where a tree fell about 8:30 a.m. today.

http://lagrangenews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/37/2015/12/web1_TreeFall02WEB.jpgA LaGrange police officer and bystanders inspect a home in the 500 block of Springdale Drive where a tree fell about 8:30 a.m. today.

Tyler H. Jones | Daily News

Janice Bassett, left, clutches her dog Duke as she speaks with LaGrange Fire Department Lt. Chris Taylor outside her home on Springdale Drive, where a tree fell at about 8:30 a.m. today.

http://lagrangenews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/37/2015/12/web1_TreeFall01WEB.jpgJanice Bassett, left, clutches her dog Duke as she speaks with LaGrange Fire Department Lt. Chris Taylor outside her home on Springdale Drive, where a tree fell at about 8:30 a.m. today.

Tyler H. Jones | Daily News

LaGRANGE — No one was injured when a large tree fell on a house in the 500 block of Springdale Drive about 8:30 a.m. today.

Janice Bassett, 77, was inside the home with her adult granddaughter, Amber Perry, when she heard the tree hit the home, she said.

“I was watching the news and I heard a loud ‘kaboom’ and the ceiling started falling,” she said.

LaGrange police officers responded to the home after a 911 call and rescued Bassett and Perry.

“They came in the front door and got me out,” Bassett said. “I was worried about my dog, but they promised me they’d go back in and find him.”

Police were able to find the chihuahua, Duke, and bring him to Bassett outside.

The home is owned by Bassett’s daughter, Karen Cardwell of LaGrange, who told the Daily News on scene the home is not insured.

“I was always worried about that tree,” Cardwell said. “There’s a natural spring that runs underneath here, that’s why they call it Springdale. When it rains real bad, it bubbles up and everything shifts.”

LaGrange Fire Department Lt. Chris Taylor, a spokesperson for the department who was on scene, said the house was potentially a “total loss.”

He said there was extensive damage to the attic area.

Bassett, who is originally from Dallas, Texas, said she’d lived in the home for three years.

No further information was available at press time.

Tyler H. Jones is a reporter with LaGrange Daily News. He may be reached at 706-884-7311, ext. 2155.