A mobile home unit in Addison Twp. had an uninvited guest smash its way through the roof during Sunday’s severe storm.
A large tree cracked near its base and fell on top of the trailer located at 246 Winding Brook inside the Hidden Lake Estates Manufactured Home Community off Rochester Rd. Fortunately, no one was inside the home at the time.
‘It went right into our bathroom,? said homeowner Nicole Burkeen, 37. ‘If you would have been using the bathroom or taking a shower, you would have been killed. There’s no doubt about it.?
The massive tree, which sat on land owned by the mobile home park, cut the trailer in two like a hot knife through butter. On the way down, it also smashed an outdoor storage shed next to the trailer.
Burkeen and her husband, Joseph, bought the trailer in April and had only lived there for a month-and-a-half. ‘It’s devastating because we just moved in here,? she said, noting the township building official condemned the trailer after the tree fell.
Burkeen and her next door neighbor, Rebecca Clayton, 41, were outside when the tree tumbled to the ground.
‘The storm started to come and we started to run,? she said. ‘We just heard a big crack and it went down.?
Burkeen said her husband and Clayton contacted the park’s management around noon on Sunday after noticing a crack in the tree, which appeared to have happened during Friday’s storm. The tree was noticeably ‘swaying? as a result of the crack.
According to Burkeen, two tree removal companies came out to assess the situation Sunday. One wanted to remove the tree that day while the other wished to at least temporarily fasten it to an adjacent tree to stabilize it, then cut it down.
‘They had people look at it, but nothing was done,? Burkeen said.
Representatives from both companies agreed the Burkeens and Clayton should grab what personal belongings they could and immediately evacuate their homes until the tree issue was resolved.
‘Both men told us to get out of both trailers just in case,? Burkeen said ‘The tree company said it was going to come down anytime. They said it was definitely going to fall.?
‘We didn’t know which way (the tree) was going to go,? Clayton said.
The neighbors made a ‘pact? that whoever lost their home would stay with the other. For now, Burkeen, her husband and their cats are staying with Clayton.
Joseph said the mobile home park has agreed to give them a replacement trailer, but they’re running into some issues.
The park offered to give the Burkeens, who have no homeowner’s insurance, a trailer and lot elsewhere in the park, but Joseph wants a different trailer placed on his existing lot because it abuts the lake unlike this other property.
‘When we moved in here we bought the place because of the lake,? he said. ‘Now, we don’t want to give it up.?
Joseph said he’s invested a lot of time and money removing the weeds and algae from his section of the lake, not to mention landscaping/beautifying his backyard.
‘They’re trying to more or less pressure me into moving over there and I’ve already put so much work into this lot,? he said.
Nicole doesn’t want to leave her ‘wonderful neighbors? like Clayton.
Joseph said park representatives told him if he chooses to take a replacement trailer from elsewhere in the community and transport it to his existing lake lot, he will have to bear the moving costs.
‘We’re trying to negotiate with them,? he said. ‘Right now, I’m just trying to find something that I can pull back on this lot.?
Joseph said the park is limiting their choice of homes to only units it owns. For-sale-by-owner trailers are not an option.
The mobile home park is owned by the Farmington Hills-based H. Lake Rochester Associates and managed by Lautrec Ltd. This reporter left a message for Frank Michel, who is the only contact Addison Twp. has on record when it comes to matters relating to the park. Someone representing Michel called the newspaper Tuesday and said he was out of town.