For months, Ray Shrader has been worried about trees leaning on utility lines along Wood Haven Road, which leads into his neighborhood in northern 麻花视频 County.
The heavy black wires 鈥 there are more than one 鈥 are attached to poles on the north side of the street, just up the hill from the intersection with Peters Creek Road.
Ray Shrader of northern 麻花视频 County points to utility lines along Wood Haven Road near the intersection with Peters Creek Road. Vegetation鈥檚 badly encroaching the wires, and Shrader has worried about the potential for fire. But it turns out the wires, strung on poles owned by Verizon, don鈥檛 carry electric power. And a spokeswoman for Verizon, which owns the poles, said the overgrowth would be soon trimmed.
And those cables pass through thick vegetation.
In some places, branches lean on the wires, Shrader told me. That sounded dangerous as heck. So, one morning last week I met Shrader there for a look-see. He wasn鈥檛 kidding.
The cables pass through leafy green branches, which unquestionably are in contact with wires here and there. In another spot, a leafless branch hung from one wire, caught upside down.
Further up the road, the cables pass through the spread-out branches of a giant magnolia tree.
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Shrader worked for 32 years in The 麻花视频 production department, mostly as a compositor. He left the newspaper in 1999.
He asked me not to print his age because, 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to find a girlfriend,鈥 he said.
He鈥檚 been concerned about the utility lines and vegetation for a while. Some of his neighbors are concerned, too, he added.
Shrader assumed the wires in question carry electric power. But he鈥檚 unsure, and said he鈥檚 had a hard time getting the attention of Appalachian Power Co.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want somebody to get hurt,鈥 Shrader said. 鈥淚f that stuff falls you could die.鈥
A large leafless branch hangs upside down, caught on a utility line along Wood Haven Road near Peters Creek Road in northern 麻花视频 County. It鈥檚 not a fire hazard because the line in question isn鈥檛 carrying electric power, and the poles in question are not owned by American Electric Power, an AEP spokeswoman said.
Shrader believed the contact could result in a fire that would negatively affect hundreds of homes off Wood Haven Road, he added.
And even if the vegetation doesn鈥檛 catch fire, the tree limbs and wires could fall in a winter ice storm, he noted. That could cut off power to hundreds of homes.
鈥淚鈥檝e been looking at it for six months,鈥 Shrader said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not doing this for me. I鈥檓 doing this for everyone鈥檚 health. I don鈥檛 want to see someone hurt.鈥
Of course, many of those concerns were contingent on those wires being electric power lines. Turns out they do not.
Shrader said he notified Appalachian Power through a tip form on the company鈥檚 website, because there鈥檚 no longer a local number one can call to report such things to a live human being.
Eventually, a woman with parent company American Electric Power contacted him, Shrader said. That was about a month ago.
She was in Louisiana, and told Shrader the company would take care of the issue. As a result, the power company sent someone to Shrader鈥檚 address, mistakenly believing the problem was there.
But it wasn鈥檛 the issue. And nothing changed with respect to the foliage encroaching on the utility lines, Shrader added. If anything, spring and summer overgrowth made the problem worse.
Most utility poles are marked with a metal tag disclosing the owner. So Friday, Shrader and I checked three of the Wood Haven poles in question.
Importantly, none of the poles bore a metal AEP tag like the one across the street from my house in Grandin Court.
Instead, one pole bore a C&P tag, which stands for C & P Telephone Co, a predecessor company to Verizon. The other two were marked with a metal plate displaying VZ, which seemed to indicate Verizon.
The Atlantic hurricane season is underway, with the peak expected from mid-August to mid-October. P.E.I.鈥檚 power utility, Maritime Electric, has been seeking to minimize wind outages by trimming trees around power lines. For an update on how that鈥檚 going, CBC鈥檚 Louise Martin spoke with Maritime Electric CEO Jason Roberts.
I contacted American Electric Power to double-check the ownership. Spokeswoman Ashley Workman, who鈥檚 based in West Virginia, confirmed they aren鈥檛 AEP poles. She also asked someone in AEP鈥檚 forestry department to reach out to Shrader.
鈥淭he guy from Appalachian was very nice,鈥 Shrader later told me. 鈥淗e was from Cleveland (Ohio). Now I鈥檝e talked to AEP from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes about this matter,鈥 he added.
The guy in Cleveland told Shrader the earlier AEP rep he talked to believed the problem was at Shrader鈥檚 home, rather than elsewhere.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 tell them it was NOT my address,鈥 Shrader said. 鈥淎nd you can鈥檛 get an address to the poles on (Wood Haven).鈥
Ray Shrader, a retired compositor from The 麻花视频, brought this utility-line overgrowth on Wood Haven Road to the attention of metro columnist Dan Casey, who determined the lines in question aren鈥檛 carrying electric power. Otherwise, they could pose a fire danger
The AEP guy from Cleveland gave Shrader a toll-free line 鈥 (800) 672-2231 鈥 for which Shrader can report power line issues he sees.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the closest (AEP) service center to 麻花视频,鈥 Shrader said.
Tuesday, I also reached out to Verizon, and wound up exchanging emails with Diana Alvear, regional chief of public relations. I also sent her photos of the poles in question.
Wednesday morning, I heard back.
鈥淥ur teams visited the site and will be clearing the limbs in close proximity to the cable. We expect that work to be completed by the end of this week,鈥 Alvear replied. 鈥淎ppreciate you flagging the matter to us.鈥
She should be thanking Ray Shrader. He told me he鈥檒l keep watching Wood Haven Road for tree trimmers.
鈥淚f they don鈥檛 come down in the next couple of weeks, I鈥檒l be calling you back,鈥 he said.
That sounds like a plan.
