PROSPECT — School officials can finally breathe easily after removing a pine tree that had split and threatened to crash into classrooms.

"Thank God it didn't happen," said Prospect School Principal Wayne Gallagher. "We came way too close. If Heidi hadn't heard it last night, it could have been terrible."

District Superintendent Don Alexander said custodian Heidi Sinclair had just finished cleaning classroom No. 5 Wednesday evening when the tree split.

"As she was walking out the door, she heard a crack," said Alexander. "She walked over and could see that the tree was split right down the middle. Each half was threatening classrooms."

Alexander said that the tree was tall enough to cross over the entire one-story building and fall on the other side.

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"This building houses a reading program room where kids come to learn to read," he said. "We have computers there. On the other side, our high school vocational teacher has an office and on both sides there are classrooms for fourth through the eighth grades."

Alexander was called to the scene Wednesday evening and he immediately called a tree faller.

"It was just starting to get dark," said Alexander, "and the tree faller said 'I can't do anything about it tonight. It's just too dark.' "

There was an inch of snow on the ground when the faller came back at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, and within two hours he had the tree cut apart.

"We finished cleaning everything up by 12:30," said Alexander.

Two other nearby trees also are leaning toward classrooms. Though they appear strong, they will be taken out over the weekend as a precaution, Alexander said.

Classes were cancelled on Thursday. Prospect doesn't hold classes on Fridays, so students had an unexpected mini-vacation.

The Prospect School campus includes all grades and is nestled within a stand of pines.

"We're well aware of the danger," said Gallagher. "Every fall we check all the trees looking for hazards.

"We have an awesome campus, but the drawback is that when you have large trees like this, some of these limbs can weigh 600 pounds."

Gallagher said that when local residents found out about the danger, they quickly offered to help.

"I am just so appreciative of everyone," said Gallagher. "Even people from ODOT (Oregon Department of Transportation) came by saying that they were willing to offer heavy equipment. Thankfully, we didn't need it, but it was great to see the community rally together this morning. We're very happy that this turned out so well."

Bill Miller is a freelance writer living in Shady Cove. Reach him at newsmiller@yahoo.com.