On Friday, Feb. 10, A customer at a local Wilmore auto repair shop received more than they bargained for on Friday, Feb. 10. 

“I had just come out of the house,” Pamela Estes, wife the shop owner, said. “I heard a loud crack and I just started screaming for people to get out of the way.”

The auto repair shop, Estes Auto Parts & Towing, has been in Bobby Estes’ family for more than 40 years. 

The tree that fell on Friday onto David Warner Jr’s car, is just one of the many rotten trees in the area.

“The State Highway Department told me there are 38 marked trees (as rotten) trees in the county, and there are 18 in this area,” Warner said.

The tree that fell onto Warner’s car and across the highway, was not marked.

“It totaled the car,” Estes said. “It was a big mess and Warner had just got out of the vehicle.”

Estes said the State Department did come down and cut the tree off of the car but neglected to get the glass off of the roadway.

“There was a couple that came by riding their bike shortly after and they had to lift their bikes up because of the glass,” Estes said. “But what if they had been by a little earlier? It would have crushed and killed them.”

This is not the first time an incident like this has occurred. 

Since Estes’ father bought the auto parts and towing facility in 1972, six fallen trees have caused damage on the property. 

Some of the instances included damage to power and phone lines and a tow truck. 

She said even the night before the incident another tree had fallen fifty feet from her house. 

“There are all kinds of rotten trees here,” Estes said. “The school bus stops right here and there are joggers and bikers always coming through.” 

The Estes’ said all they are asking is for the State Department to, cut the rotten trees down so no one gets hurt. 

“We are now responsible for this car because the state won’t cut down the trees.”

The Jessamine Journal reached out to the local State Highway Department and the Central State Highway Department in Lexington and has received no comment.