A large tree snapped in two and came down behind the National Social Security Institute (NOI) building in Burgas. No one was hurt, reader Todor Todorov said. He reported the fall through the "Your Tip to the Media" platform and sent details from the scene.
Todorov puts the tree at about 20m tall. It fell in the evening, when there were few people around and cars were parked across the street.
"Well, congratulations, now behind NOI too. A fallen tree, 20m tall, broken in two. What is going on? Back in the day, leaves fell in autumn, and now there's a new fashion – trees have started falling," Todorov wrote in his report. He also alerted a duty crew. The site is to be made safe and the fallen wood taken away.
It is the second such incident in two days. On 2 October a large branch fell on a greengrocer's on Demokratsia Boulevard, smashing shelves and blocking the pavement and cycle lane. No one was hurt then either, although the spot is a busy one.
Todorov says some of the tree crowns need checking and pruning in good time, before heavy branches or whole trunks become a direct danger. "The interesting thing is that at the building site next to us they trimmed them – just cut them right down to about a metre and a half. We are waiting for the council to do its job," he added. "It's not only on Demokratsia Boulevard that they'll be falling this week. Good thing it wasn't on a greengrocer's like over there."
The old trees between the apartment blocks in the area stand roughly as high as the eighth floor.
In Burgas, every decision about trees draws opposing reactions. When the council prunes or cuts back hard, people ask why greenery is being removed and whether the work is needed at all. When pruning is put off, broken branches and falling trunks land on cars, pavements and apartment blocks.
Height alone is no reason to remove a tree, but the state of the trunk and roots, heavy branches and closeness to buildings call for a professional check. It remains unclear whether the other large trees in the area will be inspected.