RIVER VALE, N.J.—A crane working on a tree removal overturned on Sunny Hill Terrace Thursday morning, sending its boom through one home and into another. No one was injured, according to Deputy Chief Tom Fahey, and a cat was rescued from the first home.
The collapse, around 10 a.m., brought emergency crews and television news teams to the leafy residential enclave, where neighbors described the shock of seeing heavy equipment topple into their quiet street.
“Everyone’s fine,” Fahey told Pascack Press at the scene.
Fahey said one of the crane’s outriggers—the supports that stabilize the equipment—had been positioned over a gray-water seepage pit. As the crane swung a section of tree away from the house at 613 Sunny Hill Terrace, the ground beneath the support gave way and the equipment overturned.
The pit was intended to collect water and allow it to gradually seep into the ground, Fahey explained. Its presence apparently had been unknown; he estimated it might date to the 1950s.
Asked whether such a feature would be marked before work began, Fahey said he did not believe it would be identified through the usual utility-marking process, which covers lines such as water, gas and electricity.
He described the placement of the crane’s support directly over the pit as an unlucky coincidence.
Fahey said a woman had been home when the crane fell. She was shaken but physically unharmed. A cat also was rescued from that home.
Gas and electric service had been secured, he said. Crews were working to separate the boom at its joints so it could be removed from the damaged buildings. He could not estimate how long the operation would take.
The response included River Vale firefighters and police, emergency management personnel and utility crews, Fahey said.
Eileen Levin, a resident of more than 30 years, said she was walking her dog, Murphy, when she saw the crane overturn.
“I literally saw the truck give out,” she said.
Levin said she ran inside to put her dog in for safety, heard screaming, and checked on the workers and her neighbor. She said her neighbor and the neighbor’s daughter were safe, as was their cat.
“Nothing like this has ever happened around here,” Levin said.
Neighbor John Barber said he was inside when he heard a loud crash. The helicopters overhead later drew him outside, where he saw what had happened.
People began texting him about a crane collapse on his street, he said.
“Why would there be a crane on my street?” Barber recalled thinking.
Police restricted access to the scene as crews worked around the overturned crane and damaged homes.
‘We’re really OK’
With concern for the family swirling, driven in part by network news crews from helicopters, resident Brianna Demayo of 613 Sunny Hill Terrace posted on our web story, “Hi this is my home! Everyone is okay! Just structural damage! Cat and family were out of the house right away! Thank God no one was hurt!”
Asked if there was anything she or her family needed, she said no. “Really this is all a freak accident and everyone is okay! The Downes [tree service] team has been so accommodating and are talking care of everything at the moment! My neighbors and I are all okay so it really is all okay! Thank you all for your worries but I promise we are all good.”
She said, “We really don’t need help or anything. Everyone is okay and everyone has been safe from the beginning of this all.”
