Strong winds on Tuesday toppled down trees across the Bay Area. One of the fallen trees took a life near Portola Valley.
A tree fell on a running vehicle on Alpine Road in San Mateo County near the 280 and killed the driver. The CHP received a report of a tree strike on the van around 1:34 p.m.
Crews arrived on the scene and found a fallen eucalyptus tree on top of a white plumbing van, destroying its roof. The fire department tried to get the driver out of the van when another tree fell, striking another vehicle behind the van.
No one was in the second vehicle and none of the firefighters were injured by the second tree fall.
They were able to retrieve the driver of the white van at 1:55 p.m. and found the person had been killed by the impact of the tree.
Both directions on Alpine Road were closed as a result of the incident. Once the coroner has recovered the body, work will begin to remove the downed trees.
