Adam Prudhomme
Editor
A portion of downtown Napanee in close proximately to the Gibbard District construction site was evacuated Wednesday morning after a crane made contact with a hydro line.
Greater Napanee Emergency Services crews, along with Lennox and Addington OPP and Hydro One were able to secure the area with no injuries reported.
“Crews were alerted to a crane into high voltage lines, upon arrival we verified that,” said GNES deputy fire chief Bill Hammond. “Three phases were being connected by the crane’s cables. The power was still on so our biggest concern at that point was the base plate for the outriggers is hardwood. They were all one fire so our fear was the crane was going to topple over if we couldn’t get the power off. Hydro One arrived on location and was able to dump the main transformer which allowed our crews to gain control of the crane head, the hook itself, tie it back away from the high voltage lines until such time that the bucket truck could come and disconnected the lines and that way we could get power back on.”
GNES on scene after a construction crane at the Gibbard District work site made contact with a power line, prompting an evacuation of a portion of downtown Napanee. No injuries were reported and residents have since returned to their home and businesses. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
“We evacuated a small portion of downtown just as a precaution in case the crane did topple over,” said Hammond.
With the fire under control and the crane stable, residents and business owners were allowed to return shortly after 10 a.m.
The crane’s hook was anchored to prevent it from touching the lines. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
“It is a remote control crane so the operator was a fair distance away when it made contact,” said Hammond. “There were no injuries. The Doornekamp site was fully evacuated upon our arrival and we were met by health and safety representatives as well as supervisors to ensure that that happened.”
A Hydro One crew member works to restore power to the downtown core. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
As of 11 a.m. power remained out for a portion of Dundas Street as Hydro One repaired damage to the power line. The outage was expected to last three to four hours.
GNES crews remain on site to ensure no hot spots within the base of the crane re-ignited. East Street remains closed, preventing access to the A.L. Dafoe Eater Purification Plant.