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No power outages after snow brings down line in Dolores

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Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019 5:13 PM
An Empire Electric lineman repairs a downed power line in Dolores on Wednesday afternoon.
A crew of Empire Electric linemen repair a downed power line in Dolores on Wednesday afternoon.
Empire Electric linemen prepare to remove a branch from a power line in Dolores on Wednesday afternoon.
Empire Electric linemen repair a downed power line in Dolores on Wednesday afternoon.
Dolores Fire and Rescue and a Montezuma County Sheriff’s deputy provided traffic control and support while Empire Electric linemen repaired a downed power line in Dolores on Wednesday.

Heavy, wet snow brought down a small power line in Dolores on Dec. 26, but there were no power outages.

Empire Electric Association, Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office and Dolores Fire and Rescue responded to the 900 block of Central Avenue after a call came out at 2:12 p.m. Once a large Empire Electric truck arrived on scene about 2:40 p.m., linemen were able to repair the damaged line in about 15 minutes.

Tyler Berry, a lineman with Empire Electric, said snow caused a branch to fall on a hot line, pushing it down to touch a second line. The branch caught fire, causing one of the lines to break.

A crew of linemen used a cherry picker to pull the branch off of the line and then attached the two ends of the broken wire. They tightened the two ends and secured them with a copper splice.

A deputy and Dolores Fire and Rescue were on scene to provide traffic control and support.

sdolan@the-journal.com

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