The mother of two of eight children that were injured when a tree fell onto them near a California children’s museum has filed a lawsuit against the city and the children’s museum for compensation for their injuries. The children were waiting to be picked up after attending a summer camp session when a five-story-tall pine tree fell on them. One child suffered multiple fractures to one of his arms and one of his legs, while the other child sustained a head injury and both children suffered psychological trauma when the tree fell on them. The lawsuit claims her children’s injuries were caused by dangerous conditions on public property, other acts of negligence and premises liability.
The complaint contends that the tree was not properly planted or maintained and was in a “rotten and decayed condition.” The lawsuit also alleges that the tree was overgrown and dangerously leaning with no barriers in place to help protect people in the occasion of a fall. The lawsuit claims both the city and museum officials were aware or should have been aware of the dangerous condition of the tree and they both had sufficient time to take steps to prevent an accident like this from happening.
Officials for the museum claim that the tree was in a nearby park and not on the property of the museum.
Shortly after the incident occurred, the city released a statement saying the city, “has an ‘urban forest’ of about 60,000 city-owned trees in parks, open spaces, along city streets and at public buildings. The city conducts regular maintenance and care for all of the city trees. The city has continued to maintain the grass, trees and vegetation in all city parks during the drought.”