Update 11:06 am
WorkSafeBC is currently investigating after being notified of a workplace incident at the 1300 Building of Pridham Street in Kelowna on Tuesday morning.
“There is a WorkSafeBC employee on the scene. We don’t have more information to share at this time,” said Yesenia Dhott, a WorkSafeBC spokesperson.
Castanet was contacted by one of the carpenters working on the site to explain that the crane was running more slowly than usual. So a team was brought in to try and solve the problem.
“The only problem with the crane is that it’s running at a slow pace. So the crane company service technician was trying to figure out what caused the problem. That’s when the accident happened. Again, I have to point out that while he was doing that,” said Harry Kale, a carpenter on site. It is in an area where no one is working, so there was no danger to anyone, harm or injury.
“The only mishap in the whole situation. I did when the snatch broke, yes of course it fell. And if there were people under it, there could be serious repercussions. But that wasn’t right. What happened was that the cable swung and hit the waterline. It’s that simple, that’s why They are called accidents.
FortisBC says the initial contact turned off the power and their crew was able to restore power in about an hour.
I pray 9:05
Some customers who live near the Capri Mall in Kelowna were briefly without power Tuesday morning after what appeared to be a problem with a crane operating in the area.
“Fortis is on the scene right now,” says Glenn, who lives next door. “The actual cable on that hook snapped and fell in the middle of the road.”
According to Glenn’s eyewitness account, a crane was lifting building materials to a building under construction when a cable snapped and power lines were damaged, knocking out power to approximately 54 FortisBC customers in the Belaire Street and Pridham Street area.
The accident occurred at around 7:40 am. “The cables are still hanging in there,” Glenn said. You can see that the two parts of the cable are still lying on the ground on one side. The other part of the cable is suspended from the winch. »
“I just thought of another crane story for Kelowna. They lift heavy prefabricated (materials) buildings. So they lift big, heavy sections of buildings there. Luckily, it happened when there was nothing on it.”
FortisBC was able to restore power before 9 am.
Photo: FortisBC
