By Paul Edwards
Anderson resident
A few weeks ago my wife and I noticed that the slender branches of our beautiful backyard tree were getting too close to the power lines on the south and west of our property. The tree needed to be trimmed back and topped.
After trimming quite a bit from the tree, I secured my ladder and started to cut a long forked branch. While I was making the cut, it flipped out and down onto the first and third power lines, but was still attached to the tree. A hard jolt of electricity went through my body but I was able to quickly descend the 10-12 feet I had climbed on the ladder. With my body still tingling, I called to my wife. We walked across the yard and looked at the tree. We saw the limb lying across the lines. The cut edge of the limb was smoldering, then sparks and smoke appeared.
Luckily for us the Anderson Municipal Power and Light (AMPL) supervisor, John Wood, was just across the street. He came over and assessed the situation. He then called for help. Nelson Tree Service is a sub-contractor for AMPL. General foreman Jeff Smithers was the first to arrive with four more men arriving soon after. We watched as these four men finished the job we had started. We asked that the tree be cut way back to avoid problems in the future.
As a 70-year-old senior, I thought I was knowledgeable and cautious enough to trim my own tree. But I did not know that the voltage in the top line alone was 7,400 volts that should have killed me. I also did not know that electricity would carry through the tree limbs as it did. The limbs could have snapped very easily in a bad storm and could have caused even more problems.
Several times the men told me I should be dead. My body ached, but I didn’t have one singed hair on my body. Our small daschund was shocked by merely sniffing the base of the ladder, but is fine. I thank God for his love and protection.
These men told me of the many injuries and even deaths due to incidents of this kind that happen each year. We wish to thank Dave Privett, John Wolf, Jeremy Shepler and Josh Raider. These men responded quickly and safely trimmed the tree. They were very friendly, informative and warned us of what could and should have happened. I should not be here today!
An hour or so after the men left, we began cleaning up the branches on the ground. I picked up the limb that had crossed the power lines. It had a foot long strip of charred wood where it had touched. There was still heat coming from it, three hours later!
Homeowners: Please call your power company to clear away any branches even remotely close to power lines. This is a free service. This can save power outages, injuries and even death. Hopefully, you can learn from the mistake I made and prevent future incidents. We owe this to our neighbors, power company and to ourselves.
