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plonqA tree blew over and was leaning on the power lines in our alley today. We noticed it leaning on the lines when we got home this afternoon, and even though our power was still working, we considered the situation to be slightly less-than ideal, so we reported it to Manitoba Hydro.
When we were listening to the news a bit later, they mentioned that the utility was running around dealing with hundreds of calls for downed lines and power outages. We assumed that our call would be added to the list, but since we had not reported deaths or sparks or the like, it would probably not be a priority. Our power went out about twenty minutes ago, and I (understandably) assumed it was probably related to the tree that was leaning across the line. I put on my shoes and trundled out the door to see if I needed to escalate the call, but when I got out back, I discovered that the situation had already intensified.
I got back to the alley and saw that it was blocked with police tape. I could see that the power line was now on the ground, and that a hydro truck was entering the alley from the Scotia end. My guess is that they intentionally cut power so that they could work on the line. As I was coming back to the house, the neighbour caught my attention, and we chatted about it. It seems that the tree had knocked out their power, so they'd been without electricity for most of the day. Even though they had also called it in, with the sheer volume of calls going out for service, they realized that they would have to wait in the queue.
Then the lines started sparking and the tree burst into flames.
That's when the neighbour called 911, and then called Hydro back to inform them that their line was no longer a concern because it was currently melting away in the blaze. On the other hand, the lack of a line was now some cause for consternation.
Hopefully they will haver the line fixed and the power restored pretty quickly.
When we were listening to the news a bit later, they mentioned that the utility was running around dealing with hundreds of calls for downed lines and power outages. We assumed that our call would be added to the list, but since we had not reported deaths or sparks or the like, it would probably not be a priority. Our power went out about twenty minutes ago, and I (understandably) assumed it was probably related to the tree that was leaning across the line. I put on my shoes and trundled out the door to see if I needed to escalate the call, but when I got out back, I discovered that the situation had already intensified.
I got back to the alley and saw that it was blocked with police tape. I could see that the power line was now on the ground, and that a hydro truck was entering the alley from the Scotia end. My guess is that they intentionally cut power so that they could work on the line. As I was coming back to the house, the neighbour caught my attention, and we chatted about it. It seems that the tree had knocked out their power, so they'd been without electricity for most of the day. Even though they had also called it in, with the sheer volume of calls going out for service, they realized that they would have to wait in the queue.
Then the lines started sparking and the tree burst into flames.
That's when the neighbour called 911, and then called Hydro back to inform them that their line was no longer a concern because it was currently melting away in the blaze. On the other hand, the lack of a line was now some cause for consternation.
Hopefully they will haver the line fixed and the power restored pretty quickly.
