College and Claremont residents received a scare about 10 pm on Tuesday October 23 when large tree branches fell at the corner of Eighth Street and College Avenue, bringing down power lines and knocking out electricity for several hours in the city of Claremont.

Claremont police officers arrived about five minutes later and notified Edison Power Company of "hotwires" at 11:22 pm. They quickly responded by sending a crew to restore power and eliminate the danger.

To many administrators and some upperclassmen, this incident evokes memories of February 1998, when two students were killed by a falling eucalyptus tree.

"That was the only time since I’ve been here that we’ve actually lost a student," Dean of Students Ann Quinley said.

The two sophomores, Peter Kurahashi and Brian Cressner, were driving to their 7 pm class in Pearson from their Oldenborg dorm rooms. Over three inches of rain had fallen and it had been raining steadily for over 24 hours. The two students chose to drive in order to stay dry for class.

They came to a stop sign at the end of Fourth Street and stopped, waiting to make the turn. Without a sound and without any warning, the tree fell. The approximately eight-ton tree crushed Kurahashi’s SUV, killing both students instantly.

The college was faced with a tough civil suit brought by the parents of the two students as a result of the deaths. In the suit, the parents argued that Pomona ought to have seen the instability of the eucalyptus tree and the hazard it presented because of its age, size, lean and health. Though the college actually did not ever admit to having responsibility for the students’ deaths, the suit was settled almost a year and a half ago for 1.6 million dollars, Michael J. Korda, the lawyer for both families, said.

"After the incident a couple years ago of course I had concerns, but the city says that the trees are in good shape, are well kept and well pruned," said Quinley.

No one was hurt in last Tuesday’s incident, however as precautionary measures the city has reportedly taken down the tree from which large branches fell as well as the tree next to it.

"The road was blocked between Eighth and Ninth on College and there were two cops directing traffic around the area," said Joshua Tremblay ’04, who was driving up to Ralph’s that evening.

"On Wednesday morning the road was still blocked," he continued.

Despite the proximity to the college, power was not lost at any of the college facilities. In the city of Claremont, however, power was out in several locations for up to 12 hours while crews from the Edison Power Company worked to restore power.

"Power was out from about a quarter to ten until the next morning when I left from school," said Quinley.

This tree, like the one that fell on February 23, 1998 was owned by the city.