Homeowner narrowly escape path of falling tree: 'I heard a crack'

    ROCKAWAY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A woman, lucky to be unharmed after a falling tree almost struck her outside of her home in Rockaway, New Jersey, is recounting the near disaster.

Shannon Leahy was getting ready to leave for Morristown Medical Center, where she works as a nurse, around 6:30 a.m. on Monday, but her dogs started barking.

She had already taken them outside for a quick bathroom run but decided to take them out again while she took out her recyclables... except they wouldn't come back to the house.

Leahy says they sensed something was wrong before she did.

"I heard a crack," Leahy said. "When I noticed the tree starting to tip, I took off and realized how lucky I actually was."

She was spared by a second. Her house, stairs and electrical box also dodged damage from the fallen tree. Leahy's daughter was safely inside, and the dogs were well out of harm's way. Only a concrete paver was crushed.

Leahy says it has been a day of giving thanks.

"Everybody has made an effort to reach out, out of concern, but also just to also celebrate the fact that I didn't get pancaked," she said.

And there's another clue that luck may have been on her side. Leahy always parks her car right by the front door where the tree landed, but for some reason, which she can't explain, she parked her car further away the night before, sparing it from any damage.

Then there's the cherry on top of this near disaster. Leahy desperately needs wood to heat her home.

"I ran out of my firewood around January because this winter has been so cold," she said. "And it was almost like I said, 'I need firewood.' And universe was like, 'at what cost?'"

Delivered right to her doorstep, Leahy plans to chop a section of the tree at a time.

It's not every day that a fallen tree turns into a windfall.