Couple Blames Utility Company for Accidental Fire

Bradford - It was a domino effect waiting to happen.

"Three months ago after a wind storm they never put it up right. They put that band-aid of a little pole over there with some straps," said homeowner, Joseph Nunez.

And an accident Thursday morning was all it took to knock down the wires on a Main Street utility pole.

"So, the wires were low, and when the truck hit, everything popped."

It was a sound that rang throughout Nunez's home.

He was downstairs when his appliances started going haywire.

"I thought we got hit by lightning. Everything started popping in the house. So, then I go upstairs, we have a ton of books upstairs, everything is in flames. We had perfect kindling for a fire. We have clothes and a library up there."

It was a blaze firefighters were able to put out before it could spread.

An investigation by the State Fire Marshal puts the blame on an electric malfunction inside the home, but they say that was most likely caused by the fallen power lines firefighters found.

"There were wires that were into the building," said Captain Matthew Stevens of the Bradford Fire Department.

Fairpoint Communications is responsible for the utility pole, and has already replaced it.

A spokesman for the company said they can't confirm if it had ever been damaged and repaired, but they're looking into it.

As for Nunez and his wife, they're just relieved to still have a place to come home to.

"This house was built in 1850. It's a rock."

To them, the most important piece that remains standing.

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When did the phone company become responsible for making sure that the electric company's lines stayed up?

There's so many details necessary to determine who was at fault here it's almost laughable. 'An accident' involving a truck is mentioned, but it's not made clear if that truck struck a pole. If a pole was indeed hit, was it broken? Did the lines come down completely? Were the electric lines simply slack, and did one of the primary phases make contact with the neutral? Did the truck strike overhead lines, and if so, was the truck over height or were the lines too low? Did a pole simply fail, or was it a cracked insulator or support that caused the lines to drop?

See, there's so many details here that are missing one can't even identify exactly what it was that happened let alone determine who would be at fault.

Comments

Jeff 06/18/2011 03:09 pm