When Richard Van Driesche parked his 1989 Chevrolet pickup near the baseball field at Oregon State University, he expected to find it in the same shape when he returned.

Van Driesche, a lab tech in the fisheries and wildlife department, came to campus Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. to play basketball in Langton Hall.

When he returned to the parking lot about an hour later, he found that a pine tree had fallen, crushing his Chevy and five other vehicles.

“I thought ‘Oh my gosh!’ My truck’s dead,” he said. “I was pretty distraught.”

Oregon State Police received word around 7:45 p.m. that a tree had blown over. Police officers responded, and members of OSU’s maintenance and landscape crews were called in to move the tree off the cars.

“Our crews are really good. We got them out of bed last night to respond to this emergency. They showed great commitment to the university and to safety,” said Joe Majeski, special projects and landscape manager.

Majeski, Dick Reid and Lyle Burbank were the first responders from facilities services to reach the site Tuesday evening. No one was injured by the downed tree.

According to Majeski, the tree had a compromised root structure that couldn’t withstand the evening’s super

-saturation and gusting winds.

Six other pine trees along that parking lot, which is located near the intersection of Southwest Washington Way and 17th Street, were removed Wednesday afternoon to prevent future damage to property or risks to people.

People with cars parked near the trees being removed were called Wednesday morning and asked to move their vehicles. The staff portion of the parking lot, which is the area nearest the pine trees, was closed.

Ultimately, root rotting caused the tree to fall under Tuesday’s harsh weather conditions, according to Vincent Martorello, interim director of facilities services.

In addition to its compromised roots, the pine tree had a significant lean and an uneven canopy. The recent deluge of rain caused the soil to become less stable, exacerbating the tree’s precarious position.

The other six trees that were removed exhibited similar characteristics. Martorello said they could crush cars, OSU’s heating plant and people if they fell.

“We’re only removing what we feel is absolutely necessary,” he added.

OSU planned to gradually remove these pine trees over the next several years. The university has been planting replacement Douglas fir and spruce trees in that area during the past 12 years, Majeski said.

All the wood from the seven pines trees will be recycled, ground into mulch to use on trail beds around campus.

The parking lot should reopen today, officials said.

Van Driesche is glad the unstable trees were removed, but he wished it wasn’t a lesson learned at his expense.

“My truck is totaled. I’m going to have to get a new one and go into debt,” he said.

Questions were raised as to whether OSU would pay for damage sustained by the six vehicles.

OSU is part of a self-insurance plan that includes all state agencies. The state’s risk management division in Salem is handling the case.

Typically, a situation such as a fallen tree is considered an act of God, and therefore would not be covered by OSU’s insurance, said Dugan Petty, deputy administrator for the state services division of the department of administrative services.