'Big Bertha' finally falls

COEUR d’ALENE — They called her “Big Bertha.”

She was 258 years old and was there when Fort Sherman was developed. She stood an estimated 137-feet tall. Her trunk circumference was more than 15 feet. Her crown width was 67 feet. She was believed to be the largest residential ponderosa pine tree in Idaho and was one of the largest native trees in the area.

But not even she could withstand Wednesday morning’s winds.

She fell.

Big Bertha, pushed by gusts of more than 60 mph that brought down hundreds more in North Idaho and caused millions in damages within a few hours, landed on the majestic home at the corner of Military Drive and Sherman Court in the Fort Grounds neighborhood.

Dena Shaffer and her husband Richard were in the front room when they heard the tree in their front yard crack and crash about 7:05 a.m.

“He looked up and actually saw it hit the neighbor’s house,” Denna Shaffer said.

“You gotta get over there right away,” she told her husband.

He raced across the street while she called 911.

Their next-door neighbor, Jan Thomas, saw it unfold.

“I saw my neighbor fly to the house from the side window and his feet hardly touched the ground, and I thought, ‘What on earth?’” she said.

Then, she looked out the front window. She knew why.

Richard Shaffer climbed onto the trunk of the massive tree, which stretched across the street, through the yard and onto the house, its branches covering much of the front of the home.

He yelled to the couple inside. "Are you OK?"

No answer. He waited. He moved closer. Then he heard a voice.

Yes. They weren't hurt. They were alive.

“Which is an absolute miracle from God,” Dena Shaffer said.

The couple had been in the basement and their grandchild was sleeping upstairs when the tree came down on their three-story home.

“They were all safe,” Thomas said. “Thank the Lord.”

Thomas left her home about 8:30 to seek safety as towering pines continued to sway overhead. Several homes in the area were damaged by falling trees, including on Military Drive.

“It was scary. They were going down left and right,” she said.

The Shaffers, urged by friends to leave as the wind whipped through Coeur d’Alene for hours, stayed put.

It was an long, frightening morning.

Dena Shaffer said she was still shaking on Friday.

“I was fearful they may have lost their lives,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking they lost their home.”

Bonnie Warwick lived for years in the Fort Grounds and operated Warwick Bed and Breakfast there for nearly a decade at that same corner of Military Drive and Sherman Court. She was sorry to see the damage to the home, but relieved the family was OK.

“No one was hurt. I’m so glad,” Warwick said. “The whole home is just crushed. Absolutely crushed.”

The Coeur d’Alene resident was particularly fond of the tree she called Big Bertha, spending thousands of dollars tending to her health. She spent years in her shade, marveling at her grandeur and admiring her beauty.

She nominated it for inclusion in the city’s guide, “Historic, Unusual, and Big Trees.” It’s there, number 33. Pinus ponderosa. 303 Military Drive.

Warwick surveyed the scene Friday and was sad. She felt like she had lost a family member.

“I was so devastated,” she said. “This is history talking.”

Crews worked on digging out the remains of Big Bertha on Friday, but her roots were too deep and strong.

They’ll try again Monday.

Warwick, by the way, decided while Big Bertha finally fell, she deserved a new name.

So she gave her one.

“She’s now Grandma Bertha,” Warwick said.