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Melfort power line failure causes alley fire

MELFORT— A power line failure resulted in a tree fire in the alley behind 1st Avenue South. At 12:30 am on July 15, the Melfort Fire Department was dispatched to the tree fire.
Melfort fire
Photo by Melfort Fire and Rescue/Facebook

MELFORT— A power line failure resulted in a tree fire in the alley behind 1st Avenue South.

At 12:30 am on July 15, the Melfort Fire Department was dispatched to the tree fire.

Upon arrival and investigation it was determined that the tree fire had been caused by a power line failure, although how the power line fell is unknown.

The fire was extinguished by rain before the fire department arrived.

“The power line itself, something happened to it and I don’t know what it was,” said Jason Everitt, Melfort’s fire chief. “It actually burnt off. Either it suffered some type of failure or something pushed on it causing it to fail. It’s unknown at this time.”

The power line had separated and a portion was lying on the ground in the alley.

“The power line did break apart and as a result, the arc that happened at the time started a tree on fire right there, which was self-extinguished because of the amount of rain that was falling at the time.” 

When the line broke it tripped a breaker on a power pole which shut the power off to the circuit. Power was off in nearby homes as a result.

Firefighters established a safe exclusion zone and awaited the arrival of SaskPower. When SaskPower arrived, the scene was turned over to them.

No injuries or non-utility damages were reported.

reporter@tisdalerecorder.ca