Semi pulls down wires: House uninhabitable

View larger image Jeff McCarson, a cable splicer for Shentel, checks a cable box along East Washington Street in Strasburg Wednesday morning. A power outage that occurred Tuesday after a tractor-trailer knocked lines down on Funk Street interrupted cable service for some Strasburg residents. Service crews were trying to find the cause of the disruption. Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image Jeff McCarson, a cable splicer for Shentel, checks a cable box along East Washington Street in Strasburg Wednesday morning. A power outage that occurred Tuesday after a tractor-trailer knocked lines down on Funk Street interrupted cable service for some Strasburg residents. Service crews were trying to find the cause of the disruption. Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image The top portion of a utility pole rests on the rooftop of George Andrews' home at the corner of Funk and East King streets in Strasburg Tuesday afternoon following a tractor trailer crash. Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image A firefighter and a Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative worker pass along the scene of Funk and East King streets after a tractor trailer struck a utility pole, bringing down several others in the process. Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image George Andrews carries perishables out of his home after a tractor trailer crashed into utility poles outside his home that started a fire on his porch. Rich Cooley/Daily

Wiring repairs needed, man displaced after 12,000 volts flow through structure

By Sally Voth -- svoth@nvdaily.com

STRASBURG -- The man whose house caught fire after a power line fell on it Tuesday can't return until his wiring is replaced, his sister said Wednesday evening.

George Andrews' home sits at the corner of East King and South Funk streets, and when a tractor-trailer tried to negotiate the turn onto South Funk Street, his wheel caught a guide wire, Strasburg police officer Matt Moats said.

That led to several poles toppling, and wires coming down. The top of a utility pole landed on Andrews' roof.

"Twelve thousand volts went through his house," his sister, Priscilla Schultz, of Stephens City, said Wednesday.

"We're probably [going] to end up replacing all the wiring in the house," she said. "The wiring got hot. George don't have the money to fix it. We're going to have to get money from that guy's [the truck driver] insurance company before we can do anything."

Schultz said she looks after her 60-year-old brother, who is disabled. She convinced him after years of urging to apply for disability benefits on Wednesday, she said.

"He's going to be OK," Schultz said. "He's living in the house he was born in. He can't go back until we get that mess cleaned up. He will be all right here. We will get him fixed up. He's got a roof over his head and food in his belly."

The hazards posed by the downed lines prevented firefighters from initially tackling the fire.

Shenandoah County Department of Fire and Rescue Operations Chief Tim Williams said the line carried 12,000 volts.

"That's quite a lot," he said. "They had to secure the power before they could actually attack the fire because water is conductive."

Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative external affairs manager J. Michael Aulgur said 16 of its employees worked to restore power to the more than 1,000 customers affected.
Full service was restored by 9 p.m. Tuesday, he said in an email.

"It was very, very serious for a number of reasons," Aulgur said in a phone interview. "The safety of the homeowner and the actual individual in the cab [of the tractor-trailer], that's paramount from our perspective. Whenever we have a situation like that, it's all hands on deck to make sure nobody gets hurt."

The truck driver, David Ferrell, 50, of North Carolina, was charged with reckless driving and failure to obey a highway sign.

"No semis" signs are posted on each side of the street onto which he was turning. A power line on his truck forced him to remain inside until the power was turned off.

Two additional police officers were called in to work four hours each, Chief Tim Sutherly said. They directed traffic at Massanutten and King streets because the traffic light was out, he said.