What To Do When A Tree Falls On Your Power Line

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One of the biggest concerns you may have with your large trees is that they pose a potential danger to your property if they get blown over. Trees account for around 30% of all power outages due to their branches blowing onto power lines. When a tree falls down on a power line, you have to act quickly to keep your home and family safe. Here are the things you should do if a tree falls on a power line at your home's property.

Keep your family inside

The first thing you should do when a tree falls on a power line is to keep your family and pets away from the area. Loose power cables can still be electrified and can cause harm if a person walks near them or touches them. Trees that have fallen may have weakened branches that can come loose and fall on a person. Children may also find the situation extremely interesting, and may want to climb on the fallen tree or see the power line close up. Keep everyone inside until the dangerous mess has been cleaned up by an emergency tree service company. 

Call the power company

You will need to call the power company immediately following a fallen power line. If you do not know the power company responsible for the power line, call your local police department and they can arrive to barricade the damaged area off while they contact the power company responsible for the line. The power company will send personnel over to your home to both remove the damaged power line off the ground make sure all power line connections are secure so you and your neighbors can have power back as soon as possible.

Contact a tree service

If the police department or power company don't contact an emergency tree service company to remove the offending tree, then you will need to call someone to have the tree taken down or have its branches sawed away from the power line so it can be restored. If the tree belongs to your property, you can contact your home insurance agent for a referral on a tree service company (such as Arborist Services LLC) to remove the tree's damaged parts. Depending on your home insurance coverage, you may have the tree's damages covered by your policy.

Under no circumstances should you try to remove a fallen tree or its branches from a power line on your own. You risk getting dangerously shocked, and you may even cause a fire in attempting to fix the problem yourself. Keep your family safely indoors away from the damage, call the power company or the police, and make sure a tree service is on its way to repair the tree damage if you have a tree fall on a power line.

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22 October 2015

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