Call (425) 369-8733 — Sammamish Storm & Emergency Tree Service

A Plateau wind event does not wait for a permit window. If a tree is on the house, on a car, blocking the only way out, hanging over a roof, or split and leaning after the storm, call MTS Tree and Landscape at (425) 369-8733 . The line is answered 24/7. This is our home city — Klahanie, Pine Lake, Beaver Lake, the rest of the Sammamish Plateau, and the Issaquah Alps edge. We are not driving in from Seattle for this.

This page is for storm damage and true emergencies only. A stable dead tree, a crown that needs thinning, or a planned backyard removal of a large fir belongs on our Sammamish tree removal or trimming pages.

Tree on the house, driveway, or car? Call (425) 369-8733 . 24/7 phone. We do not promise an arrival time; we tell you what we can do.

Key Takeaways

• Call (425) 369-8733 first. Stay out of the drop zone. Do not climb, chain-saw, or pull on a hang-up over a roof.
• If the tree is in or on wires: stay at least 35 feet back, call 911 for downed lines, then Puget Sound Energy at 1-888-225-5773. MTS does not work live wires. We take the tree once the utility says the lines are safe.
• Inside Sammamish city limits, significant trees are regulated under SMC 21.03.060. Street trees in the right-of-way need a Type B ROW path, not a private-tree shortcut. Steep slopes, wetlands, streams, and shorelines are critical areas — you can still make a tree safe in a true emergency; the city still wants the file after.
• You can make an imminent-threat tree safe. Follow-up filing with the city is still required. The city reviews whether it actually qualified. We document the scene and help with the after-the-fact paperwork. We do not use “emergency” to take down a healthy tree.
• We make the site safe, rig or crane the wood off the structure, haul debris, and can help tarp an opening the tree made. We are not a roofing contractor.
• We can photograph and write arborist notes for a homeowners claim. We do not promise the insurer will pay.

What To Do Right Now

1. Get people and pets out of the rooms or yard the tree can still hit. If anyone is hurt or trapped, call 911.
2. Stay back. A cracked Douglas fir on the Plateau or a hung-up maple over a Klahanie roof can finish falling without warning. Do not stand under it to “check the damage.”
3. If you see downed or sagging lines, or the tree is on a pole or service drop: stay at least 35 feet away. Call 911. Do not touch the tree, the fence, or standing water near it. Report the outage to Puget Sound Energy at 1-888-225-5773. Call MTS after the lines are safe.
4. If it is safe to do so from a distance, take photos: the tree on the structure, the point of impact, the blocked driveway, interior damage if you can reach it without walking under wood. Insurers ask for this. The city asks for this on imminent-threat filings. Do not delay the safety call to stage a photoshoot.
5. Call MTS Tree and Landscape at (425) 369-8733. Tell us the address, whether anyone is still in the house, whether lines are involved, and whether the only exit is blocked.
6. Do not DIY. A chainsaw in a compression bind, a rope on a hang-up over shingles, or “just dropping it into the street” is how a salvageable roof becomes a second claim. Leave the tree where it sits until a crew is on it.

Phone first. The quote form is for later, when the site is already safe.

What We Do on a Sammamish Emergency Call

The job is make-safe, then clean-up — not a planned backyard take-down of an 80-foot fir.

• Triage on the phone. Life-safety and occupied structures first. A tree on a Pine Lake living room beats a split alder that landed in a side yard and hit nothing.
• Make the tree safe. Cut and rig the parts that can still fail onto the house, the car, or the only way out. Sometimes that is a full removal. Sometimes it is a hang-up, a split leader, or a leaner that has to come down in sections.
• Crane or climbing/rigging when the drop zone is a roof, the lot is fenced, the street in Klahanie or Sahalee will not take a fall, or the tree is an 80-to-120-foot Plateau conifer next to the house. We use a crane when it is the safer way to get wood off a structure.
• Haul. Storm wood, chips, and the pieces that were on the driveway leave with us unless you ask to keep firewood that is actually safe to keep.
• Tarps, not roofs. If the tree opened a hole, we can help get a tarp over it so weather stays out. Call a roofer for the repair. We will not claim we rebuilt the house.
• City follow-up. Photos, a TRAQ / ISA write-up when the city wants one, and the after-the-fact imminent-threat filing through MyBuildingPermit. Sammamish still wants the file after a true emergency. If the tree sat in a critical area or buffer, the city often wants a snag left at a safe height and wood dropped in the buffer for habitat — we do not treat a wetland-edge fir like a front-lawn ornamental.

We are licensed, bonded, and insured. Climbers and crew leads train to ISA and L&I standards. We do not cut live electrical.

Call (425) 369-8733 .

Storm Work vs Planned Removal

A wind-thrown cedar through a Beaver Lake garage is an emergency. A 90-foot fir you have been watching for two years is a planned large / hazardous removal, even if it makes you nervous.

Is It an Emergency?

Situation	This page	Other page
Tree on house, garage, or occupied room	Yes	—
Tree on a car	Yes	—
Only driveway / only exit blocked	Yes	—
Split, hung-up, or newly leaning over a roof after wind	Yes	—
Debris making the house unsafe to occupy	Yes	—
Dead or declining tree that is still standing and stable	No	Sammamish tree removal
Large or hazardous tree you want off before the next storm	No	Sammamish tree removal
Clearance, shape, or storm-proofing a healthy crown	No	Sammamish tree trimming
Stump left after the emergency wood is gone	After make-safe	Sammamish stump grinding

Emergency work is usually more involved than a scheduled job: night or weekend labor, clay soils and tight Plateau access, crane time, and protecting a damaged roof. We give you a number for the work in front of us. We do not invent a citywide price list on this page.

For a tree that can wait, use Sammamish tree removal services. Call (425) 369-8733 either way if you are not sure.

Sammamish Emergency Rules, in Plain Language

This is a field guide, not a substitute for the code. Thresholds, forms, and chapter numbers get updated. We classify the tree on site. Current city path: sammamish.us/trees and SMC 21.03.060.

Private trees (City of Sammamish, SMC 21.03.060)

A tree-removal permit is required to take down a significant tree. The city’s current definition: a significant conifer is 8 inches DBH or larger; a significant deciduous tree is 12 inches DBH or larger. Heritage trees start at 22 inches. Landmark trees start at 32 inches. Healthy significant-tree removals are capped by lot size over a rolling 10-year window. Unhealthy or hazardous trees, once the city verifies them, sit on a different path — TRAQ-certified ISA arborist, ISA Basic Tree Risk Assessment Form, then a permit. That is planned hazard work, not this page.

Imminent threat

The city’s own application is for a tree removed in an emergency that threatened serious / life-threatening injury. There is no fee on a qualifying imminent-threat filing. Staff still review whether it qualified. If it did not, they treat it as a retroactive significant-tree permit and/or code enforcement. Photos that clearly show the threat are required. We do not invent an “emergency” file for a tree someone just wants gone.

Street trees (Type B ROW)

Trees in the street right-of-way are not a private-lot shortcut. Removing and replacing a street tree requires a Type B right-of-way permit. In a true life-safety situation, make people safe, call 911 if the street or wires are involved, then we handle the tree and the ROW follow-up. Do not assume the strip between sidewalk and curb is yours to drop.

Critical areas

Vegetation in wetlands, streams, steep slopes, landslide hazard areas, and their buffers is generally protected (SMC 21.03.020 and the city’s critical-area tree guidance). You can still make a tree safe if removal prevents imminent danger to people or property. The city’s current field guidance is often to snag the tree to a safe height and leave the cut wood in the buffer for habitat, then restore any disturbance. We do not grind those stumps as a default — see stump grinding.

Unincorporated King County

Most of Klahanie, Pine Lake, and Beaver Lake is inside Sammamish city limits and uses the city code. If your parcel is unincorporated King County (some Plateau-edge lots), King County Local Services applies: KCC 16.82. An “imminent hazard” (could fail at any moment where people actually are) can be removed without a clearing permit; take before-and-after photos. A hazard that is not imminent needs a certified-arborist file and a clearing permit. We check the jurisdiction before we cut.

Penalties

Unpermitted work is expensive. We do not print a dollar fine on this page. We also do not skip the paperwork because it was windy.

Downed Lines: Utility First, Then the Tree

Sammamish is Puget Sound Energy territory, not Seattle City Light. PSE is clear: assume every downed line is live. Stay at least 35 feet back. Call 911 for the line. Call 1-888-225-5773 to report the outage.

MTS Tree and Landscape does not handle live wires, does not move a line, and does not cut a tree that is still energizing a fence, a car, or standing water. Once PSE (or the 911 response) has made the electrical side safe, we take the wood.

If the tree is on your service drop but you are not sure it is de-energized, treat it as live. Call the utility. Then call us at (425) 369-8733 .

Insurance After a Sammamish Storm

Photograph before anyone moves wood, if you can do it from a safe place. Then call us. Then call the insurer.

Homeowners policies often cover tree removal when a structure is damaged. They often do not cover a tree that fell in the yard and hit nothing. A tree on a car is usually auto, not homeowners. Deductibles, “act of God” language, and neighbor-tree disputes are between you and the carrier.

We can document what we found, what we removed, and why it was an emergency. We can write the arborist notes many adjusters ask for. We cannot promise they will pay, and we will not inflate the file.

Call (425) 369-8733 .

When It Is Not an Emergency

If the tree is dead but standing, ugly, too close to the house, or “probably coming down someday,” that is planned work. Same for a crown that needs thinning before the next Pineapple Express, or a stump you want gone after last year’s removal.

• Planned large or hazardous removal: Sammamish tree removal
• Trimming and pruning: Sammamish tree trimming
• Stump grinding: Sammamish stump grinding

If you are standing in the yard at 2 a.m. arguing with yourself, call (425) 369-8733. We will tell you if it can wait until daylight.

Neighborhoods We Run in a Storm

This is home base. Klahanie (including the mailbox at 4580 Klahanie Dr SE), Pine Lake, Beaver Lake, Sahalee, Trossachs, the rest of the Sammamish Plateau, and the Issaquah Alps edge where lots steepen toward Issaquah and Lake Sammamish. Mature Douglas fir and Western red cedar, clay soils, HOA fences, and streets that were not built for a crane are normal conditions for us.

If your street is not on that list and you are in Sammamish, we still run the job. Call.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Sammamish permit if the tree already hit the house?

You can make an imminent threat safe. The city still wants the follow-up filing (photos that show the threat; arborist notes when they ask). We handle the emergency work and the paperwork. We do not skip Community Development because it was a Sunday.

The tree is on the wires. Who do I call?

911 for downed lines. Puget Sound Energy at 1-888-225-5773 for the outage. Stay 35 feet back. Call MTS Tree and Landscape at (425) 369-8733 for the tree after the lines are safe. We do not cut live electrical.

Will my insurance pay?

Sometimes, when a structure is damaged. Often not, when the tree only hit the lawn. We document. We do not promise a check.

A Douglas fir split in the wind but is still standing over the roof. Is that an emergency?

If it can still fail onto the house, a car, or the only exit, treat it as one. Do not wait to see if the next squall finishes it. Call (425) 369-8733.

You are based in Sammamish. Do you actually take overnight storm calls here?

Yes. MTS Tree and Landscape is based at 4580 Klahanie Dr SE #261, Sammamish, WA 98029. This is the home city, not a service-area footnote. Same phone, 24/7: (425) 369-8733.

Home City. 24/7 Phone.

MTS Tree and Landscape runs King and Pierce County from Sammamish. Storm work on the Plateau is a normal week, not a special trip. Same insured crew, same rule: we make the tree safe, then we file what the city actually requires.

24/7 phone. No web form required to start an emergency call.

Call (425) 369-8733 , email info@nwmts.com, or use the quote form once the site is safe.