About 3 years ago we had a pine tree die in front of our house (about 15 feet from our bedroom window). Since we had to pay a bunch of money ($1000) to have another dead tree removed about a year before, we were in no hurry to take this one down. I called the insurance company and asked if they pay for tree removal--after all, if it fell it could smash the house or tear down the utility wires. Nope, was their reply. They'd pay for any damage AFTER it fell, but wouldn't cover taking it down. Well, Thanksgiving night 2003, at about 9:30, the wife and I heard/felt this tremendous BOOM! Ever see the movie, My Cousin Vinny, where the owl screeches and wakes up Joe Pesci, and he yells out "What the F--- was THAT!? Well, that's what I was thinking! I go outside and there's this big piece of wood laying in the driveway! That tree had busted off about 3 feet from the ground and it tree fell parallel to the house. Thank God! It was about 2 1/2 feet in diameter and almost 100 feet tall/long. It stripped branches off another pine tree as it fell and broke off a big limb from an oak tree. It also moved our propane tank a few inches! We were VERY lucky it didn't smash the house and us in it. This tree had been dead only a few months and I'd watched other dead trees to see how long they stood before falling and some have stood for years, so I figured I had some time before I had to do anything with it. We've had a few other pines die due to bark beetle infestation since then and if they're near the house, they get removed pronto.
If any of you folks have dead or sickly-looking trees near your homes, get them taken care of now. Just like Abtomat, a fine-looking tree will just "shed" a branch on a whim. Go look at a "natural" forest. Those things are messy! There are branches and junk all over the ground. Trees break all the time.
Kirk