A Montville family is unsure when they’ll be able to live in their house again after a tree-trimming crane they hired crashed onto their roof, causing serious damage.

The homeowner says he hired the workers from North Jersey Tree Specialists to prune trees while he was away. Instead, their whole crane came crashing down onto his house, bringing a call from his housekeeper he never expected.

It happened around 3 p.m. Wednesday at the family’s Westminster Drive home.

“A near-tragedy was averted,” said homeowner Ken Rose. “[My housekeeper] was very concerned that there was significant damage - and there is. Our biggest concern is the fact that it's going to rain.”

The Roses aren’t allowed back in their house until the structural assessment is complete.

“We were planning on having the family for Thanksgiving," Rose said. "I don’t know if that’s going to happen.”

Neighbors said the scene was the most excitement the neighborhood had seen in years. It took more than five hours to remove the crane.

Rose said the service included removing a dead tree in the front yard and pruning the others. A News 12 call to North Jersey Tree Specialists was not immediately returned.

“I was very surprised at the amount of equipment here for relatively routine work,” Rose said. “We're very, very honored that we have so many supporting people here, but more importantly, we're safe, and we will hopefully get through this together.”

No one was hurt in the incident.