So ... I unintentionally knocked out the power to my neighborhood today. On my task of clearing the beetle-killed spruce trees from our yard, I first wanted to go after the ones that might fall into the road. I called Homer Electric Association to take down any of the trees that are in danger of hitting the lines, and I thought that I was limiting my cutting to those that were not capable of hitting the line. It turns out that I was wrong.
When cutting the trees, I've taken care to angle my cuts in such a way that the trees fall in nearly the precise way that I want them to fall. Occasionally, they fall a little to the left or the right, very rarely getting caught up on another tree. I thought that would be my primary concern as "widow-makers" are quite dangerous. It turns out that I was wrong.
The tree in question seemed to be leaning slightly to the right of where I wanted it to land. It's not that it would have landed in a terrible place, but I was trying to get the trees to land in a larger clearing in my yard to make it easier to deal with them later as I had already taken down about ten trees this morning. I tried to compensate by taking the initial wedge a bit to the left of of the tree's lean. I then stood on the opposite side for the final cut. I was almost positive that it was going to fall in the direction of the wedge cut, maybe just a bit to the right. It turns out I was wrong.
Instead, the tree fell in the exact opposite direction of the wedge I made, making it fall in the opposite direction of the clearing. I was standing out of the way, about halfway between the wedge and the way the tree was falling, but I still scrambled back just in case. I was irritated that I was going to have to clear up the road right away, but I thought that would be the extent of the mishap. It turns out I was wrong.
I heard a snap, and saw the top of the tree fly up in the air. I immediately noticed that the power lines across the road were bouncing. Clearly, the top of the tree was just high enough, and the tree fell at just the "perfect" angle to clip the wire. Thankfully, it was not enough to bring the line down. I was hoping that, because it did not bring down the wire, that power would not be disrupted. It turns out I was wrong.
I immediately texted my sons to come out and help me clear the road. I had about half of it cut and cleared by the time Connor came out to help. He immediately said, "Uh, Dad? We lost power." At about this time, one of our neighbors came out and asked if we had lost power too. I sheepishly called HEA and let them know that we were without power, and yes, I knew exactly how it happened, providing the details to the answering machine, and later their operator when she called back. A little girl from one of our other neighbors came out and asked if we lost power. I said we did, and that it was my fault. She informed me that I made it so she couldn't have yogurt because her mom wouldn't let her open in the refrigerator. I said that it would be okay and that they were going to get the power back on soon ... which they did in about an hour.
At least in that it turned out that I was right.
When cutting the trees, I've taken care to angle my cuts in such a way that the trees fall in nearly the precise way that I want them to fall. Occasionally, they fall a little to the left or the right, very rarely getting caught up on another tree. I thought that would be my primary concern as "widow-makers" are quite dangerous. It turns out that I was wrong.
The tree in question seemed to be leaning slightly to the right of where I wanted it to land. It's not that it would have landed in a terrible place, but I was trying to get the trees to land in a larger clearing in my yard to make it easier to deal with them later as I had already taken down about ten trees this morning. I tried to compensate by taking the initial wedge a bit to the left of of the tree's lean. I then stood on the opposite side for the final cut. I was almost positive that it was going to fall in the direction of the wedge cut, maybe just a bit to the right. It turns out I was wrong.
Instead, the tree fell in the exact opposite direction of the wedge I made, making it fall in the opposite direction of the clearing. I was standing out of the way, about halfway between the wedge and the way the tree was falling, but I still scrambled back just in case. I was irritated that I was going to have to clear up the road right away, but I thought that would be the extent of the mishap. It turns out I was wrong.
I heard a snap, and saw the top of the tree fly up in the air. I immediately noticed that the power lines across the road were bouncing. Clearly, the top of the tree was just high enough, and the tree fell at just the "perfect" angle to clip the wire. Thankfully, it was not enough to bring the line down. I was hoping that, because it did not bring down the wire, that power would not be disrupted. It turns out I was wrong.
I immediately texted my sons to come out and help me clear the road. I had about half of it cut and cleared by the time Connor came out to help. He immediately said, "Uh, Dad? We lost power." At about this time, one of our neighbors came out and asked if we had lost power too. I sheepishly called HEA and let them know that we were without power, and yes, I knew exactly how it happened, providing the details to the answering machine, and later their operator when she called back. A little girl from one of our other neighbors came out and asked if we lost power. I said we did, and that it was my fault. She informed me that I made it so she couldn't have yogurt because her mom wouldn't let her open in the refrigerator. I said that it would be okay and that they were going to get the power back on soon ... which they did in about an hour.
At least in that it turned out that I was right.
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