First photo: Armed with a hydraulic pole, Romanus Dakamas clears branches away from nearby power lines fronting the J. Walter Cameron Center late last month. Foreman Kahai Morton said that Maui Electric Co. called Asplundh on Oct. 23 after branches from the leafy monkeypod tree came in contact with power lines and started burning. A lot of people don’t know that “if the tree touches the line while they’re touching the tree, they can get shocked,” Morton said. “So we’re doing it for public safety and to keep the power on.”

Second photo: Workers haul trimmed branches away to be mulched.

The Maui News / COLLEEN UECHI photos