On the corner of Fifth and B Streets, in front of the Dance Palace Church Space, stands an ornamental pear with a sprawling canopy. It’s a tree that legions of local children have climbed. But this summer, the community center’s director, Claire Burns, noticed that its leaves had begun to blacken and curl.
She had heard about fire blight just days earlier, in her own Inverness Park neighborhood. “I went from never hearing about it…