Strong winds take out 3 power lines, 2 fires result

Washington City responders answer three calls about fallen power lines from strong winds, Washington City, Utah, August 6, 2015 | Photo by Nataly Burdick, St. George News

WASHINGTON CITY — Washington City responders answered calls for downed power lines at three different locations Thursday night after strong winds took out lines across Washington City.

One power line, on Red Hills Parkway, was taken down when “microburst” winds knocked down a sign that took the line with it, Washington City Fire Marshal Jim Guynn said.

The other two, one on Quail Ridge Drive and the other on 200 North, were taken down by trees that fell on the lines.

The calls came in between 8:45 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.

The downed lines sparked fires at the Red Hills Parkway and Quail Ridge incidents, but it took little to no active fighting to put the fires out, Guynn said.

“Which isn’t a good idea when you have a live energy source anyway,” he said.

Two houses lost power at the Quail Ridge Drive incident, Guynn said, but it did not appear that any other houses had been affected at any of the locations.

The Fire Department had not yet assessed the damage as this report is published, but Guynn said there was little damage from the fires, as they were mostly ground fires.

There was some obvious damage from the fallen items, he said, especially the sign on Red Hills Parkway.

Power crews were on their way to assess and fix the downed lines as of 10:35 p.m., but Guynn did not have an estimate on how long the repairs would take.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

 

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1 Comment

  • mshaw August 6, 2015 at 11:09 pm

    Wonder if Mike shaw will say it worked until it didn’t

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