I was at an appointment when my phone buzzed. I let it go straight to voicemail because no one ever calls me about anything really important. When I left the appointment I had a message from my neighbor that said, “You really need to step outside and take a look.” Then his voice dropped away as he said to his wife, “Oh, honey, we’ve got smoke and fire.” That’s where the message ended. I rushed home, hoping my neighbors were okay.
Long before my wife and I moved into the house where we live now someone planted a hackberry tree next to the driveway. There’s a retaining wall between our driveway and our neighbor’s driveway, and I can’t figure out why anyone thought it would be a good idea to plant a tree, which would spread its roots and eventually turn into a hundred-foot tall monster, right there. And we’ve talked several times with the neighbors about removing it because if anything happened it would probably fall on their house.
Luckily what happened instead is an enormous branch fell on their driveway. It took out a power line which zapped several of their appliances and started a fire at the power pole at the street which was stopped from spreading to houses on the other side of the street by neighbors with fire extinguishers.
I have no idea how good I’d be in a crisis and have great respect for Thomas Slatin who, as part of her extraordinary life, worked as a firefighter, a profession that calls for running into danger, but I wish I’d been there to help. Instead I came home to find that the worst was taken care of. Mostly I stood around and watched while a guy came out in the dark and moved the branch so the electric company could repair the wires.
A few days later we had a crew come out and take down the entire tree. They did an excellent job, especially since the tree was in such a difficult position between houses, driveways, and power lines. I wish we’d done it sooner—as the saying goes an ounce of prevention is worth about five-thousand dollars of cure.
With the tree gone I understand why it was planted there. Our house faces west and a lot more late afternoon sun beats down now that the shade the tree was provided is gone. It’s a relief that we don’t have to worry about it smashing the neighbor’s roof anymore. It seemed so solid and stable, but, as the saying goes, the bigger they are the harder they fall. We have a much more open view of the sky now, but the tree will still be missed.
First and foremost, thank you for your kind words. I spent over two decades in the fire service as both a Firefighter and Paramedic, and I can certainly appreciate the complexity of incidents like these.
I’m relieved to hear that the fire was successfully contained to the area around the power poles, and it’s heartening to know that civilians were willing to step in and try to help by using dry chemical fire extinguishers. However, while their intentions were undoubtedly noble, it’s important to recognize that attempting to handle a situation involving downed power lines can put them in serious danger.
Downed power lines are some of the more straightforward incidents to manage from a professional standpoint, but they remain inherently risky due to the unpredictable nature of electricity. Even those with the best of intentions can unintentionally put themselves in harm’s way when trying to assist. It’s always best to call emergency services and maintain a safe distance until the professionals can assess and mitigate the situation safely.
Thomas Slatin recently posted…Capturing Decay: Exploring An Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital Power Plant
Thank you so much for that. While I was also glad I had neighbors who were willing to step in and do what they could if I’d been there I would have encouraged them to be careful and wait for the professionals because, as you noted, electricity is so incredibly dangerous. To the inexperienced, and even sometimes to the experienced, it can also be very unpredictable. I really think it was, first and foremost, the quick response of our local fire department and also some luck that kept the situation from being worse.
What a difficult situation! I’m imagining how I would have reacted to all this — probably electrified by guilt, fear, grief about losing the tree, and relief about how the damage wasn’t worse. I always appreciate your slant, Chris.
Losing the tree was a very strange experience and I’m still filled with regret we didn’t take it down sooner. But that’s balanced by feeling better that things weren’t as bad as they could have been,