{"id":8715767,"date":"2023-01-13T12:30:20","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T20:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8715767&preview=true&preview_id=8715767"},"modified":"2023-01-15T11:02:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T19:02:02","slug":"the-whole-ceiling-was-on-top-of-me-san-jose-couple-forced-out-of-home-by-falling-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/13\/the-whole-ceiling-was-on-top-of-me-san-jose-couple-forced-out-of-home-by-falling-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The whole ceiling was on top of me\u2019: Fallen tree displaces San Jose couple"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the early hours on a recent gloomy\u00a0day, 29-year-old Lauren Kirchick was awakened by crazy \u201churricane wind\u201d pounding on her bedroom window.<\/p>\n

She felt the urge to check on the two large eucalyptus trees across from her home of six years \u2014 living in the Bay Area, she didn\u2019t usually worry too much about the weather, but that night\u2019s storm seemed different. While she peered through the blinds at\u00a0her San Jose condo, her husband, Eric, 30, got up to use the bathroom across the hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m watching, and these two trees are just swaying, swaying, swaying,\u201d Lauren said. \u201cAll of a sudden, I hear this huge crack.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lauren
Lauren and Eric Kirchick recount the early Tuesday morning when a tall eucalyptus tree fell onto their condo unit causing significant damage. Lauren was in their bedroom when the tree fell, and she still tears up when recounting her experience. Eric, who was not in the bedroom when the tree fell, was able to rescue her. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the moments the couple was out of bed, one of the eucalyptus trees \u2014 which had loomed large over the condo for years \u2014 came crashing down, directly toward the bed where the couple was sleeping just minutes before.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard for Lauren to remember exactly what happened next that Tuesday morning \u2014 if she ran, or if she jumped out of the way. But all of a sudden, she found herself on her bedroom floor<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole ceiling was on top of me,\u201d Lauren said through tears. \u201cI was like, \u2018well, this is it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"On
On early Tuesday morning, a tall eucalyptus tree fell onto a condo unit of a San Jose couple Lauren and Eric Kirchick causing significant damage to one of their bedrooms seen in this picture taken on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But Eric managed to pull Lauren out from where she fell, next to their dresser and among a mess of branches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I was stuck, I had so much adrenaline,\u201d she said. \u201cAll I know is, he helped pull me out \u2014 I don\u2019t know if I could\u2019ve gotten out on my own. And then we ran out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and Eric escaped into their living room, which was now littered with debris from their roof and ceiling. After finding a flameless candle in their condo to help light the way, they headed downstairs to their neighbor\u2019s condo for help.<\/p>\n

That neighbor, Linda Simi-Ormonde, said she found the young couple at her doorstep at 2:25 a.m., looking absolutely terrified.<\/p>\n

Lauren \u201cwas hit on top of the head,\u201d Simi-Ormonde, 74, said. \u201cShe had blood, she had this huge knot on her head. And she was in a daze, and that needed to be taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"One
One day after a tall eucalyptus tree fell onto the condo unit above her home, Linda Simi-Ormonde recounts the early Tuesday morning incident and expresses her concern for the Kirchicks\u2019 well being during an interview on Jan. 11, 2023, in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Simi-Ormonde began pulling \u201cwood, ceiling, sawdust, all the debris, leaves, branches \u2014 big, huge branches\u201d from Lauren\u2019s hair, helped them call 911, and offered the couple her guest bedroom for the night.<\/p>\n

The next day, Simi-Ormonde discovered that her own condo also had been damaged \u2014 the walls of her guest bedroom and the mattress in it had water damage, and the ceiling began to leak. She and her husband are planning to move out by the end of the week at the advice of her insurance agency, who said that it\u2019s too dangerous for them to stay put.<\/p>\n

But property damage is the least of Simi-Ormonde\u2019s worries. What she\u2019s most upset about is Lauren and Eric\u2019s brush with death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese two beautiful people could have been killed if they would have stayed in bed,\u201d Simi-Ormonde said, getting choked up as she spoke. \u201cIt\u2019s more than the loss of things. Things can be replaced \u2014 people cannot be replaced, and I thank God with my heart and soul that no one died.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kirchicks and Simi-Ormonde said the two eucalyptus trees have been a point of contention in the past, though when the Kirchicks bought their condo and moved in six years ago, they weren\u2019t too concerned about them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first glance, it\u2019s not something you really think about \u2014 they\u2019re 40 yards, 50 yards away,\u201d Eric said. \u201cYou just wouldn\u2019t think anything like that would happen, especially this far away.\u201d<\/p>\n

But things changed several years ago, after another tree fell near the Kirchicks\u2019 condo on a spa \u2014 \u201ca little outhouse-type thing with a jacuzzi in it,\u201d Lauren said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since, people have been petitioning to get rid of the other two eucalyptus trees,\u201d Eric said. \u201cIt\u2019s been denied, and then this happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simi-Ormonde, a renter who\u2019s lived in the complex for fifteen years, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have talked about getting rid of these trees,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd they need to know these people are in danger \u2014 we are all in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

The homeowners\u2019 association did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The Kirchicks and Simi-Ormonde said they\u2019ve had no luck getting the HOA to take their pleas for help seriously. For instance, the Kirchicks have asked the HOA to place a tarp in their home to prevent further damage to the condo, or to make arrangements to have the tree removed with a crane.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been frustrating,\u201d Eric said. \u201cWe\u2019ve filed a claim with our insurance, and they contacted [the HOA] and told them we\u2019ve got to get a debris removal service out, got to tarp the roof to prevent further damage. All they did was send a mass email to everyone saying they were scheduling people to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been following up each day, and they just said it\u2019s gonna take days,\u201d he said. \u201cNothing\u2019s been done to get the tree removed\u2026 it\u2019s raining every single day and it\u2019s causing more damage, and I haven\u2019t gotten a response.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three residents also said they fear for the safety of others who live in the surrounding condos \u2014 the longer it takes for the tree to be removed, the more danger it poses to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought they should\u2019ve evacuated this whole place,\u201d Lauren said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how they haven\u2019t yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Kirchicks\u2019 home was dark and empty, with a giant tree branch protruding from their bedroom wall and into their living room. They took their wedding photos off the walls for safekeeping. A red armchair and plush brown sofa were covered in rubble and dust, and pieces of fluffy insulation foam littered the floor.<\/p>\n

\"Eric
Eric Kirchick, left, and his father-in-law, Walter Chetner, survey on Wednesday Jan. 11, 2023, the damage in the living room caused by a tall eucalyptus tree that fell onto Kirchicks\u2019 condo unit on early Tuesday morning, in San Jose, Calif. The tree caused significant damage to one of the bedrooms and a part of the tree is now sticking out into the living room. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n