Downed power lines cause trouble

Published 10:07 pm Monday, June 20, 2011

A large tree limb fell on Kings Highway Monday morning, downing power lines that in turn caused electrical fires at three residences on the road. The incident also resulted in extended power outages at 79 residences and the closing of a portion of the highway between Crittenden Road and Godwin Boulevard for most of the day.

A large fallen tree limb pulled phone and power lines down Monday morning on Kings Highway, causing electrical fires at surrounding houses.

The incident also resulted in the closing of a portion of the road from Crittenden Road to Godwin Boulevard for several hours and lengthy power outages.

Chuckatuck Volunteer Fire Department and Suffolk Fire and Rescue responded to the call about the downed tree limb and addressed fires at three residences. No one was seriously injured during the fires.

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Chuckatuck assistant chief Travis Dortch said the department believed weather, most likely wind, caused the downing of the tree limb, adding he suspected the tree was rotting.

He said the fires mostly were contained to the power meter boxes of the three homes and caused minimal damage.

Kings Highway resident Bobbie Jones was sitting on her porch with her husband when they saw the tree come down, taking the wires with it.

She said the transformers were booming at her house and the surrounding homes, so she went out back to cut off the main power.

Jones said the box looked fine when she opened it, but as soon as she touched the switch, she was thrown backward.

“I didn’t feel anything,” Jones said. “I just saw all this bright light coming out of the box.”

She said the shock knocked her a few feet back.

“I remember flying through the air, but I don’t remember hitting the ground,” Jones said.

Jones was cleared by the paramedics and suffered only a minor burn from the incident.

Right next door to Jones, her grandsons James and Henry White and their friend Wyatt Dhaliwal were hanging out at Henry’s house when they heard a loud bang that sounded like thunder.

When they went outside, they saw the tree lying across the street as well as a power line sparking on the street.

“It was the scariest sound,” Dhaliwal said.

Joseph Jernijeh, who lives about seven houses down the street from White, said he was text messaging back and forth with Henry when he heard the boom.

When Henry stopped texting back, Jernijeh got worried and decided to go to his house.

When he stepped outside, he said all the power lines were shaking violently.

“The power lines were going crazy all up the street,” he said.

By mid-afternoon, tree crews were working to clear the limb off of the street so Dominion workers could restore power.

The incident initially left 4,000 customers without power, but Dominion had restored power to all but 79 residences by the afternoon.