Question
Hi, I think I may know the answer to this question, but I want to make sure.  I have about 8 Bradford pear trees that I planted 3 years ago in San Angelo (West) Texas.  One of the trees just totally died this spring after our remarkably late (April) freeze and snow.  I replace that one, now the one that is located next to it (about 14 feet away) has all of the leaves turning a chocolate brown, lime green in the leaf stems.  It is my guess that this is Fire Blight.  Is this going to kill the tree?  I would think based on what I have read so far that treatment at this time (September) would be null and void.

We have had a very good rainy season this year.  I had to spray trees for web worms just last week and I treated the trees with 20-15-5 fertilizer back in May.  This is the only tree that seems to be having a problem, and I do not wish to loose it.  If I do, I will be moving on to another type of tree.  

Thanks for your time,

Daniel in San Angelo, TX

Answer
Hi Daniel,

I think you have diagnosed the problem correctly, but it is very unusual that all of the leaves have turned dark brown.  This is usually a symptom of long-term bacterial infestation.  

The symptoms you describe are characteristic of fire blight in pear.  Though there are antibiotic treatments available to the horticultural and agricultural communities, there usually is no reasonable treatment for the homeowner.    

However, you will want to remove (burn) all debris (leaves, fruits, branches, etc.) from the area to minimize the spread of the bacterium (_Erwinia amylovora_) to the healthy trees.  It is hard to say why you have only one tree affected, but the early symptoms may or may not have been visible when you purchased the tree, but the bacterial infestation has certainly benefitted from the warm temperature and high humidity.