Ellen had lived in her Keene house for almost twenty years, and she thought she had seen every kind of summer storm the Monadnock region could throw at her. Then came that July night. The wind picked up fast, the lights flickered twice, and by the time the rain eased off she could hear something that did not belong. A low creak, then a heavy thud she felt through the floorboards.
She waited until morning to open the back door. When she stepped onto the porch with her coffee, she stopped cold. One of the big maples that had shaded her deck for years was lying flat across the back of the house. Branches were splayed over the railing. And running right through the middle of the crown, half hidden in the leaves, was a power line.
Her first instinct was to walk toward it. To get a closer look, maybe pull a few branches off the deck so she could see the damage. Most people feel that same pull. The tree is on your property, your deck is under it, and you want to do something about it right now.
Ellen did not take that step. She stood still, looked again at the wire tangled in the branches, and backed up instead. She went inside, kept her dog away from the door, and made a couple of phone calls from the kitchen.
That one choice, the decision to back away in the first sixty seconds instead of walking in, is the reason nobody in her family got hurt that morning.
We see this scene play out across Keene every storm season. A tree comes down, the homeowner means well, and the most dangerous moment is not the storm itself. It is the quiet morning after, when someone walks toward a mess they do not fully understand. So let us walk through exactly what to do, in the order that keeps you safe.
The First 60 Seconds After a Tree Falls in Keene
When a tree comes down near your home, the clock in your head starts running, and it is easy to feel like you have to act this second. You do need to act. But the first move is almost always to slow down and get clear, not to rush in.
Here is the short version, the part worth remembering before anything else happens. Get every person and every pet away from the tree and away from anything it is touching. Move to a spot well back from the trunk, the branches, and any wires. Do not walk under the tree, do not climb on it, and do not reach in to grab something. Once everyone is at a safe distance, then you start figuring out what you are actually dealing with.
The reason for that order is simple. A tree that has just fallen is not finished moving. Branches are under load, the trunk may be balanced on a fence or the corner of a roof, and a shift of a few inches can turn a stable-looking pile into a fast one. People and pets first, every time. The deck, the car, and the garden furniture can all wait a few minutes.
Assume Every Downed Line Is Live
If there is a wire anywhere in or near the fallen tree, treat it as live and deadly, every single time. Not “probably off because the power is out.” Not “just a cable line.” From the ground, you cannot tell a dead line from an energized one, and you cannot tell a power line from a phone or cable line with any real certainty. A tree lying across a line can also push current into the wood, a metal fence, or the wet ground around it.
Keep a wide berth. A good rule is to stay back at least the length of a school bus from any downed wire and from anything it is touching, including the tree itself and any puddle running off it. Keep kids and pets inside. Do not drive over a downed line lying across your driveway. If a wire is arcing, smoking, or you hear a buzzing sound, get everyone further back and stay there.
Then call it in. Your electric utility handles downed lines, and in the Keene area that is Eversource. If the line is sparking or a fire has started, call 911 first. The tree itself can wait for the wire to be made safe. No branch, no blocked driveway, and no crushed shed is worth stepping inside that zone.
Check for Structural and Gas Risk Before Anything Else
Once you know where the wires are and everyone is clear, take a careful look at the house from a distance. A tree on the roof or against a wall can do more than dent a few shingles. Look for a roofline that sags, a wall that bows, cracked framing, or a door or window that suddenly will not open or close the way it used to. Those are signs the structure has taken real load, and the inside of the house may not be safe to stand in.
Use your nose too. If you smell gas, hear a hissing sound, or the tree came down right where your gas meter or line runs, get everyone out of the house and call it in from outside. Do not flip light switches, do not light anything, and do not go back in for belongings. Gas trouble and downed trees sometimes come as a pair, especially when roots tear up on their way over and drag a service line with them.
If the house looks and smells fine and no wires are involved, you can stay put and move to the next step. If anything looks wrong with the structure or you smell gas, treat the house as off limits until the right people have checked it. When we roll up on a call, one of the first things our crew does is read these same signs, because how a tree is loaded against a building changes everything about how we take it down.
What Not to Touch on a Fallen Tree in Keene
Somewhere in the first hour, a lot of homeowners start eyeing the chainsaw in the garage. The tree is already down, the thinking goes, so how hard can it be to cut it into pieces and haul it off. This is the single most dangerous mistake we see people make, and it is worth understanding why before you ever pull the starter cord.
A standing tree is relaxed. A fallen tree is not. When a trunk drops across a deck, a fence, or its own branches, the wood is holding a huge amount of stored energy, bent and pinned in ways you cannot see from the outside. People in the trade call it spring pole and compression tension. Cut into the wrong spot and all that energy lets go at once. A limb whips back, a trunk rolls, or a section you were sure was dead weight suddenly kicks. It happens faster than you can step away.
There are a few things you should never touch. Do not cut any part of a tree that is under tension, bent, or holding weight up off the ground. Do not cut a tree that is leaning on your house or resting against another tree. Do not touch a tree with any wire in it, and we have already covered why. And do not climb onto the trunk or a branch to get a better cutting angle, because that is exactly where people get thrown.
Clearing a few loose twigs off the lawn is fine. Dragging small, obviously loose branches to the curb is fine. But the moment the wood is pinned, bent, or connected to something structural, put the saw down and step back. This is the part where trained hands and the right rigging matter. Our crew relieves that stored tension in a controlled order, piece by piece, so the tree comes apart the way we choose instead of the way physics chooses for you.
Who to Call First After a Storm Brings a Tree Down
When a tree is down and you are standing in the kitchen with your phone, the order of your calls matters as much as the calls themselves. Getting the sequence right saves time and keeps you from waiting on the wrong person while a real hazard sits in your yard.
Start with the worst-case question. Is anyone hurt, is there a fire, or is a live wire down? If the answer to any of those is yes, call 911 first. Emergency crews handle injuries and fire, and they will help get a dangerous scene locked down. Nothing else comes before that.
Next, if there is any wire involved and no immediate emergency, call your electric utility. In and around Keene that is Eversource. They own the line, and only they can safely shut it off or confirm it is dead. A removal crew, including ours, cannot and will not start cutting a tree with a live line in it until the utility has cleared the wire. So the sooner that call goes in, the sooner the whole job can move.
Then call a crew that handles hazardous tree work. Once people are safe and the utility is dealing with any wire, you want experienced hands to assess the tree, stabilize it, and take it down without adding damage to your house or your yard. This is where we come in. Wilcox Tree Service answers the phone 24/7 for exactly this kind of call, storm or shine, day or night. You are not leaving a message and hoping for a callback in the morning. When you are staring at a hazardous tree on your Keene property, a real person picks up and starts working out how fast we can get to you.
One more note. If the tree is fully off any structure and no wires are involved, it may not be a middle-of-the-night emergency at all. In that case a scheduled tree removal in Keene the next day is often the right call, and we can talk you through which situation you are actually in when you ring.
How Wilcox Tree Service Handles an Emergency Tree Call in Keene
People often ask what actually happens after they call us at two in the morning with a tree on the porch. It helps to know, because it takes some of the panic out of the moment.
The first thing is that someone answers. Our emergency line, 603-363-8197, is staffed around the clock, so a storm at midnight gets the same response as a problem at noon. We ask a few quick questions to understand what we are walking into. Is anyone hurt, is there a wire, is the tree on the house or on the ground, is anyone still inside. Those answers tell us what to bring and how fast we need to move.
When our crew arrives, the work starts with a read of the scene, not a saw. We look at how the tree is loaded, where the tension is sitting, what it is resting against, and whether the structure underneath is sound. On a house or a car, the order we cut in is everything, because the wrong first cut can drop weight in the wrong direction. For the big, heavy, or badly tangled situations, we bring in the equipment to lift sections out cleanly instead of dropping them.
From there it is controlled, step by step. We stabilize anything that could shift, relieve the stored tension in the wood in the right sequence, and take the tree apart piece by piece so nothing new gets damaged on the way down. Then we clean up. You should not be left with one hazard turned into a debris field. We haul off the wood, clear the work zone, and walk the property with you so you know exactly what you are looking at.
None of this is about upselling you in a stressful moment. It is about getting a dangerous thing off your home and out of your way, safely, so your family can get back to normal life in Keene.
Storms move through the Monadnock region fast, and the tree they leave behind will not wait for business hours. If a tree is down on your Keene property, call Wilcox Tree Service at 603-363-8197 for 24/7 emergency response, and let our crew take it from there.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the very first thing I should do when a tree falls on my Keene property?
Get yourself, everyone else, and any pets well away from the tree and anything it is touching. Before you look at the damage or reach for a phone, put distance between people and the fallen tree, because branches and trunks under load can still shift and move. Once everyone is clear and at a safe distance, look for wires, then check the house for structural or gas problems from where you are standing. People first, property second. The deck and the car can wait a few minutes.
- Is it safe to go near a fallen tree that has wires in it?
No. If there is any wire in or near the tree, treat it as live and stay far back, at least the length of a school bus from the wire and anything it touches. From the ground you cannot tell whether a line is energized, and a downed line can push current through the tree, a fence, or wet ground. Keep kids and pets inside, do not drive over a fallen line, and call your electric utility, which is Eversource in the Keene area. If it is sparking or a fire starts, call 911 first.
- Should I try to cut up a fallen tree myself before help arrives?
It is best not to. A fallen tree holds stored tension in bent and pinned wood that you cannot see, and cutting into the wrong spot can make a limb whip back or a trunk roll without warning. Dragging small, obviously loose branches off the lawn is fine, but anything that is bent, pinned, holding weight, leaning on your house, or near a wire should be left to a trained crew with the right rigging. Every storm season we see close calls between homeowners and their own chainsaws, so when in doubt, put the saw down.
- Who do I call first if a tree falls on my house in Keene, NH?
Start with 911 if anyone is hurt, there is a fire, or a live wire is down. If there is a wire but no immediate emergency, call your electric utility, Eversource, so they can make the line safe, since no removal crew can cut a tree with a live line in it. Once people are safe and the wire is handled, call a crew that does hazardous tree work. Wilcox Tree Service answers 24/7 at 603-363-8197 and can start working out how quickly we can reach you.
- Does Wilcox Tree Service respond to emergency tree calls at night in Keene?
Yes. Our emergency line at 603-363-8197 is answered 24/7, so a tree that comes down at midnight gets the same attention as one at noon. Storms in the Monadnock region do not keep business hours, and neither do we. When you call, a real person picks up, asks a few quick questions to understand the hazard, and helps you figure out the safest next step and how soon our crew can get to your property.
- How fast can Wilcox Tree Service reach my Keene property after a storm?
It depends on the night. After a big storm rolls through the Monadnock region, several trees can come down across town at once, and we work through calls by how dangerous each one is, so a tree on a house with people inside moves ahead of one lying in an empty yard. What we can promise is that your call is answered right away at any hour, that we give you an honest read on timing, and that we tell you how to stay safe while you wait. Calling early, before the phones fill up, always helps.