Power not shut off for over an hour

By Jonathan Barbagallo

On a quiet Tuesday afternoon on Jan. 17 at 2:45 p.m., a local Norfolk husband and wife were headed back to town after grocery shopping and lunch.  The rest of their day was shattered when their car struck a telephone pole at the driveway entrance to Norfolk’s transfer station, otherwise known as the “dump” on Route 44 near the Colebrook town line.  I,  personally, was waiting on Route 44 to pull into the transfer station and witnessed the crash. Being a Norfolk fire and EMS volunteer, I used my two-way radio to immediately call Litchfield County Dispatch and report the accident, requesting that Norfolk Fire Department, Norfolk Lions Club Ambulance, and the Conn. State Police be immediately dispatched to the accident site.  

The car ended up shearing the pole at the base, rolling over and stopping on its passenger side with power, telephone and cable lines lying on the car with the pole and transformer lying nearby.  I rushed over to the car, got as close as I safely could and radioed an update to the dispatch center requesting that Eversource be notified for a Priority 1 response to the scene.  

In the emergency services, there are three different priority levels that are used when we notify the power company to respond to an emergency scene.  Priority 3 is the least emergent and used in a situation where an electrical problem exists but is no immediate threat to lives or property, e.g., wires down in the roadway or a transformer fire.  A priority 2 response is requested when an electrical hazard is hindering operations but not life-threatening.  This is typically requested when we have fires where live electrical lines are still attached to the house and obstructing our operations to put out the fire safely.  A Priority 1 response is reserved for those life-threatening emergencies where a person or persons cannot be rescued until the power company shuts off the power or disconnects a service line.  With two people trapped inside with power lines draped over the car, it was an easy decision to ask for a Priority 1 response from Eversource which was done within two minutes of the accident occurring.  

Norfolk Fire and Norfolk EMS rushed to the scene only to find that no rescue or patient care could take place due to the risks of electrical shock.  Also on scene to assist Norfolk was Winsted Fire Department, paramedics from Winsted and North Canaan, and later Life Star Helicopter landed at nearby Maasser Park. 

It took Eversource 50 minutes to have a representative on site of the crash and another 15 minutes for the power to be safely disconnected and shut off.  From the time the accident occurred, it was over 70 minutes to remove the couple from the car and send them to hospital via ambulance and Life Star helicopter. 

This monumental delay caught the attention of NBC30, and Chief Investigative Reporter, Len Bestoff after NVFD Chief Matthew Ludwig and Norfolk EMS Chief Kitty Hiccox sent letters of concern to Eversource. Bestoff and his photographer spent over two weeks interviewing Chief Ludwig and I, to make an impactful story that would pressure Eversource to make changes to the way they respond to Priority 1 calls.  Bestoff and his team also received video footage from the Conn. State Police that showed the accident scene while it was happening and asked lawmakers on the state’s energy and technology committee if they could institute any changes for the future.   

While it is still to be determined if any statewide changes are forthcoming, it should be mentioned that Eversource did meet with Norfolk Fire Department leadership to explain their operations that day and was receptive to ideas to improve their response time in the future.  Thankfully, the couple involved in the crash are making a full recovery and no first responders were injured during the rescue.  

The NBC30 reports can be seen on their website when you click on the “Investigations” tab at the top of the page. 

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/investigations/