Quick answer
Right now, move everyone away from the tree and well back from any wire it touches. Call 911 if someone is hurt, the tree is on the house or a car, or it blocks a road; power lines go to PECO. Then call us. Phones are answered 24/7, and we'll help you sort tonight's work from what can wait.
Why a tree on the house is not an ordinary takedown
A tree lying on a roof or a car is loaded in ways you can't see from the ground. One limb may be holding the trunk off a rafter, and the wrong cut lets it all drop again. So we rope the trunk to something sound, trim the free end first, and lift weight off in stages.
If a wire is tangled in it, nothing is cut until the line is confirmed dead; see limbs lying on a service wire. A trunk on open lawn can usually wait for first light. One that has landed across the garage or a fence usually can't.
Signs a tree problem should not wait for morning
- A fresh crack you can see light through
An open split at a fork that was not there yesterday.
- Soil heaving at the base
Raised, broken earth on one side after wind or soaking rain.
- A limb resting on a roof or line
Any branch lying on the house, a car or a wire.
- A new tilt toward something
A tree that now leans at the house or the street.
- Creaking or popping in wind
Sounds from the trunk, often before a split opens.
- A broken branch over a path
A snapped limb caught above a door, walk or driveway.
What happens after you call about a tree emergency
You call, any hour
Tell us what the tree is on and whether a line is involved.
Safety calls first
We check 911 or PECO has been called where it applies.
Read the loads
On site we find which limbs carry weight and which are free.
Tie off the trunk
Ropes go on so nothing shifts when the first piece comes off.
Lift weight off
Small pieces come off the free end until the roof or car is clear.
Make it safe, then decide
You choose whether the rest is finished now or on a dry day.
Cut up and clear
Trunk bucked, brush chipped, wood hauled, gutters swept.
How long emergency tree work takes
Making a tree safe usually takes a few hours of slow cutting. Finishing, with the trunk cut up and the yard cleared, can take as long again and sometimes waits for daylight. Wires and post-storm queues stretch it, and once the danger has passed a storm cleanup visit on a calmer day may make more sense.
After-hours tree emergencies
The bad ones tend to arrive in the dark: a crack, a thud, branches against the bedroom glass. A person picks up after hours, asks what the tree is on and whether a line is down, and helps you separate what must happen before daylight from what is safer once every cut can be seen. HomeAdvisor puts its national upper figure for emergency removal as high as $5,000.
Trees split down the middle
A tree that splits at a narrow fork leaves one half standing and the other hanging or down. The standing half is often worse off than it looks, because the crack runs into the trunk and the stem has lost its counterweight. We tie it off before touching the fallen half. Keeping half a split tree is rarely worth the risk to the house.
Trees blocking a driveway or street
A trunk across your driveway is mostly cutting and carrying, unless it rests on a car or pins a line. We cut a lane first so a car can get out, then work back toward the root plate in pieces short enough to roll. A tree across a public road is a 911 call first; the part on your property is yours to clear, and we take it away.
Who handles what when a tree comes down in Philadelphia
After a storm here, a tree that falls on private property is the owner's to resolve. The city sends people to 911 for a tree on a house or car or across a road, and to PECO for power lines; PECO does not handle cable or telecom lines, and residents clear the debris. Such nights recur: the February 2014 ice storm cut power to about 713,800 PECO customers, and the June 2020 derecho, with four deaths blamed on falling trees, to about 453,700.
With no room to work under a trunk on the roof, a crane lifts it away in a few big pieces.
Call (916) 312-2373What an emergency removal costs
Emergency work is priced like a planned removal, plus its conditions. Five things decide where a call lands.
- 01
What the tree is lying on. A trunk on a roof comes off in small lifted pieces, far slower than on grass.
- 02
Hour and weather. Dark, rain or ice means lighting, extra rigging and patience.
- 03
Wires in the tangle. Waiting on a utility make-safe can split the job into two visits.
- 04
Stored tension. A trunk pinned under another tree is released one controlled cut at a time.
- 05
What you want finished now. Safe tonight, cleanup on a dry day, often costs less than both at once.
| Job | Published range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency tree removal | as high as $5,000 | HomeAdvisor, 2026 |
| Tree removal, Philadelphia | $500 to $2,200 | HomeBlue, 2025 |
Planning numbers from published surveys, not our prices. We price after seeing the tree.
Tree emergency questions people ask on the phone
Keep everyone out of the rooms under the impact until the weight is off. If a ceiling sags or you smell gas, leave and call 911.
911 if anyone is hurt, the tree is on the house or a car, or it blocks a road. Power lines go to PECO. Then call us.
Often when a tree damages a covered structure, less often when it only lands on the lawn. Photograph everything first and call your insurer early.
Phones are answered 24/7. Whether work starts that night depends on the danger, the weather and any wires, and we'll tell you which.
Not anything carrying weight. A limb on a roof or pinned under the trunk can spring when cut. Loose twigs on the lawn are fine.
Other urgent tree work
Storm Damage Cleanup
Limbs and trunks scattered after a microburst or nor'easter, cut up and hauled away.
Fallen Tree Removal
Rigging a trunk off a roof, car or garage without making the damage worse.
Broken & Hanging Limb Removal
Snapped branches hung up in the crown, brought down before they drop on their own.
Crane Tree Removal
Big picks lifted over roofs when there is no safe way to lower the wood by rope.
Tree down right now?
Get everyone clear of it, then call. Someone answers 24/7 and will help you work out what has to happen first.