A Price resident is lucky to be uninjured Monday after picking up what looked like a piece of wire in his yard. The wire turned out to be a live power line that supplies power to area light poles.
The unidentified man found the line around 10 a.m. on his property, on the corner of 100 North 200 East, and called authorities when it sparked in his hands.
“The resident came out of his property and noticed the power line just laying there and decided to pick it up,” said Price City Fire Chief Paul Bedont. “It’s fortunate that he didn’t getВ electrocuted.”
Officials believe the cause of the downed line was in result of an over-grown tree next to where the line broke. Bedont noted the difference between the line that broke and other lines in the area.
“Now, a home line wouldn’t be as bad. It would have probably tripped before it hit the ground,” he said. “But with it being a street light, it typically will use more load. In order to keep the street light on, it tries to give it more power.”
Trees, Inc. was called to the scene to trim theВ obtrusiveВ tree. Bedont also issued a word of warning if a similar situation occurs to another resident.
“I feel we need to post something that says if a power line is laying on the ground, don’t touch it,” he said.
Officials expected the line to be repaired within a couple of hours.
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