ST. PAUL - A single vehicle collision that occurred in the afternoon of Jan. 29 in St. Paul not only caused a number of businesses and residents being without power for a number of hours, but it has also resulted in the Town of St. Paul's Director of Protective Services to speak out on a serious issue that was witnessed.
St. Paul Fire Chief and Director of Protective Services Trevor Kotowich confirmed on Saturday the fire department was dispatched to the collision at about 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
"When we arrived, we found a vehicle had slammed into a pole just off of main street," said Kotowich. While no injuries occurred, the collision did result in a power pole "precariously hanging, making it a significant danger to the surrounding area."
The first challenge was that the incident resulted in a power outage that affected the Town of St. Paul office. Within two hours of the incident, the battery back-up to the department's radio system, which communicates with the 911 call centre, was also down.
"This meant we had no communications with our dispatch should another call come in," explained Kotowich. "Thankfully, both the Town and County (of St. Paul) invested into their Emergency Management program over 10 years ago, and provided a diesel-power generator to provide power to our administration building. By 4:30 p.m., we had emergency power being supplied to the town administration building, which meant our communications with our dispatch were back up and running."
A very concerning issue was also noted by the fire chief as ATCO and other emergency crews worked to restore power and repair damages.
"We had two fire department units along with two provincial sheriff units, and then an RCMP unit blocking the area off because of the significant safety concerns," said Kotowich. "On numerous occasions, the motoring public disregarded those road blocks, and went around them for no other reason but to be a rubber-necker."
Kotowich said he was very disappointed to have witnessed this happen.
"By doing this, they jeopardized our emergency personnel’s safety along with their own. This was blatant, and will not be tolerated."
Dealing with electricity, and the dangers that can exist, is not the fire department's expertise, and so a safety perimeter was set up to allow experts to arrive and get to work.
"ATCO informed me that there was an energized wire touching the pole, which means the pole could have also been energized. Anyone touching it, or if it should have come down, could have been met with catastrophic results," said Kotowich.
Failing to obey directions of a peace officer or person directing traffic is subject to a $243 fine, and Kotowich says he will be directing all emergency personnel to take license places in the future so they can be forwarded to RCMP or Community Peace Officers.
"Registered Owner violation tickets would follow in the mail. This goes for any scene on any roadway. I can’t stress enough how this jeopardizes the safety of our emergency responders," said Kotowich.
Thankfully, ATCO Electric, with help from the Town's public works department, had fully restored power to the area around 8 p.m.
"They should be commended for their efforts," said Kotowich of those who worked at the scene.