iN VIDEO: Shuswap fire department reminds public of fallen power line danger after fiery incident

A timely reminder from a Shuswap fire department about the dangers of damaged power lines as another series of winter storms make their way through the southern Interior today.

In a Facebook post, the Eagle Bay Fire Department near Salmon Arm says crews responded to multiple calls involving broken, low-hanging or dangling power lines during the previous heavy snowfall events in the region.

“A small percentage of these wires will display visible or audible behaviour such as sparking, bouncing or moving around, a humming noise or open flame,” the fire department says in the post. “The majority of the time there is nothing to indicate any real danger.”

But just because there are no signs, doesn’t mean there is no danger, the fire department says.

On Dec. 31, the fire department was conducting emergency traffic control at the scene of a broken wire across from the Eagle Bay Mercantile Store. After several hours, the wire had become buried in the snow but still managed to catch on fire underneath the snow.

“It was a great wake up call for us to never let our guard down on these ‘routine calls’,” the post reads.

The video shared to the Eagle Bay Fire Department Facebook page has been viewed more than 7,000 times.

B.C. Hydro advises people to stay a minimum of 10 meters away from a downed wire or anything with a high voltage and call 911 immediately.

For more information on broken or downed power lines, go to B.C. Hydro’s website here.

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