Lawmakers Meet with Local Fire Chiefs to Try and Resolve Downed Lines Issue

PUTNAM – State Representatives Rick Hayes (R-Putnam) and Anne Dauphinais (R-Killingly) held an informal meeting last night with fire chiefs from volunteer departments throughout Eastern Connecticut to discuss the amount of time their personnel are spending sitting at down lines, a common issue they’ve faced for quite some time.

Currently when an incident involving a downed line or other electrical hazard occurs and a call must be made to Eversource, those calls are prioritized by based on a three-tiered emergency response scale. Level 1 emergencies involve an immediate life hazard where the individual cannot be rescued until the power is shut off. A Level 2 priority exists when an electrical hazard exists but is not life-threatening. Level 3 is a situation where an electrical hazard exists but poses no immediate threat to life or property.

The major issue among all of those in attendance was the amount of time their volunteers are left at a scene waiting for Eversource to show up and the frustration regarding a lack of action on their part to remedy the situation. For many, it is Eversource taking advantage of a situation by not having to pay someone to sit there when the volunteers who respond to these incidents do it for free.

“What we’re asking is that Eversource be reasonable with their response times because we believe it’s their responsibility to watch these lines,” Rep. Hayes said. “All of these fire chiefs take public safety incredibly serious and will do whatever they can to ensure areas where these downed lines are safe, but to ask volunteers to sit at a location for eight or nine hours waiting for Eversource to show up is unreasonable.”

“Some of the smaller departments in the state may have only two trucks for a serious fire situation or car accident and taking one away to sit at a downed line for several hours prevents it from responding to another situation, further creating a potentially serious public safety issue,” Rep. Dauphinais said.

Rep. Hayes said his goal is to invite representatives from Eversource and local fire chiefs to one of their upcoming Fire/EMS Caucus meeting in an effort to come to a resolution that works for everyone involved.