Residents along Lucina Street and Robinson Avenue were without Internet and telephone service on Sept. 22 after a lowboy pulled a fibre optic cable down in the early evening.
“We had to make sure the wire that was pulled down was not a power cable,” said Jim Pendergast, the town's fire chief, of the concern over the downed cable. “After we contacted FortisAlberta, we were assured that it was not a power line so TELUS and Shaw were our next calls.”
Pendergast noted that a vehicle being transported at the intersection of Lucina and Robinson on a tractor-trailer came in contact with the wire at 5:47 p.m. He said the line was torn down, and was lying across the road. Homeowners in the area reported their home phones were not working and that they were TELUS customers.
“TELUS reported that they were not able to get crews to the area until Tuesday morning sometime,” said Pendergast. “We would like people who are affected to use their cellphones or to go to their neighbour's to call 911 if they have an emergency.”
The fire chief reported that there were no injuries and that four Penhold units and 11 firefighters responded to the incident. Penhold crews remained on scene for about three hours and removed the line from the road. Crews reopened Lucina Street shortly after 8:30 p.m.
For further information contact the town office at 403-886-4567 or check the town website at www.townofpendhold.ca.
