Tree topples over into Surprise woman's pool during powerful monsoon

SURPRISE, Ariz. - Heavy storms across the Valley leave behind plenty of damage, and a woman is seeing that very destruction in her pool after a tree that was imposing on her backyard for a year finally toppled over.

In Surprise, a woman found a tree from her next-door neighbor's yard in her pool, and she's having trouble getting help to remove it.

"It's a frustrating situation. I have kids," Crystal Fernandez said. "The wall is unstable."

She came back to her Surprise home near Cactus Road and Bullard Avenue after a rainy commute Friday evening to find the damage. A tree from the next-door neighbor's backyard tore through the brick wall and landed in their pool.

"I was actually a horror coming home. Oh my gosh, what happened? I have kids, I have pets," she said. "Just very scary."

Fernandez says the tree has made her uneasy for a while as it's been imposing on her backyard. She's been reaching out to the homeowners' association for support since last year to get the tree trimmed.

She owns her home but says the next-door house where that tree was planted is rented and owned by Progress Residential. She's been trying to get ahold of them but hasn't had any luck so far.

Her HOA has been sending courtesy letters to the company about the troubling tree since 2021.

"They've sent multiple courtesy letters to Progress Residential to rectify the situation but nothing has been done," Fernandez said.

Her family is being advised, for now, not to move the tree since they haven't gotten a response. She's just hoping the owners of the home can fix this.

"Wish they would come out and take responsibility for what's been told to them since 2021," Fernandez said.

On Aug. 20, Fernandez says a group of landscapers showed up and began removing the tree without permission into her backyard. She says they caused more damage than was there before.