City crews worked in rainy conditions Saturday evening to remove a large fallen oak tree in Altadena that smashed into the vehicle of a man visiting the area.
The giant oak tree came crashing down onto a parked car around 3 p.m. on Meadowbrook Road near Allen Avenue, where the saturated ground could no longer anchor the massive tree.
“We just heard an unnatural noise, like just a big bang,” said Jim Jermonak, who was visiting the Altadena area for work.
Jermonak says he was shocked when he realized the tree had fallen on top of his rental car.
“And I walked out and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe it, because it wasn’t raining that hard, it wasn’t raining that hard here at the time, so God knows what caused this giant 150-year-old oak tree to fall down,” said Jermonak.
Neighbors were saddened to see the oak tree topple over because it had helped shield homes during the Eaton Fire.
The steady rainfall and win in Altadena was enough to topple a large oak tree along a residential street. Mekahlo Medina reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Nov. 15, 2025.
“These trees eat embers for breakfast, and they protected a lot of homes while the Eaton Fire was going through. Unfortunately, when they are planted inside these planters, right in between the sidewalk and the street, they tend to fall when we get wind or heavy rain like this, that made the tree lopsided,” said Edgar McGregor, an LA County Parks and Recreation Meteorologist.
In South Pasadena, the heavy rain caused sinkholes along Edgewood Drive.
“I couldn’t drive forward, I couldn’t drive backwards and so I got out of the car and realized that the rear of my car was in a big sinkhole and my wheels were six inches below the level of the street. So I was stuck,” said one driver.
The gaping holes made the road undrivable, prompting officials to close it for repairs.
As of Saturday night, all evacuation orders and warnings in the area were lifted, LA County officials announced. Even though the bulk of the storm passed, officials are still warning people to be alert because the ground remains heavily saturated, which could still trigger mudslides, especially in the burn scar areas.