Simpson thankful to be alive after freak accident to her home
Around 11 p.m. April 9 in the Whitney Lakes area of Hacklebarney Road everyone experienced a power outage, but only one resident was shaken by a loud boom that rattled their home. A trailer came loose from the vehicle towing it and clipped a power pole before smashing into that resident’s home, though it was a moment before they realized it.
Mary Simpson of 5219 Hacklebarney Road got a shock when her house suddenly vibrated. The impact was powerful enough to almost knock her off the couch and items fell from the wall in her bathroom. Between the boom of the impact and the flash of sparks outside, then a second boom she now thinks was the top of the power pole landing in the road, Simpson thought a powerful thunderstorm or something worse had rolled in without her realizing it. Checking the weather on her phone and seeing nothing of the kind, she went outside.
What she found was even more shocking than a sudden storm. The top of the power pole was in the road and the other half was laying in the yard. “Luckily that didn’t hit the house at least,” says Simpson. She called 911.
Realizing he had lost the trailer, the man driving the truck had turned around. “A Georgia Power man lives two houses down from me and he was waving his arms to try to keep him from driving over the live wire laying in the road,” says Simpson.
Nearby, a car was in a roadside ditch. According to Simpson the man’s wife and child were in that vehicle, following the truck and trailer. When they saw the trailer break free, striking the pole and then Simpson’s home they pulled over. Simpson isn’t sure, but believes they were following him to drop off the truck and trailer and then drive back home together.
“I don’t know the man’s name, but he was very calm and very apologetic,” says Simpson. “And I was so grateful to all the police and firefighters and electrical workers who came out to help.”
How the trailer came loose to hit both the power pole and her home, is something that perhaps the police report will reveal.
Neighbor Robert Douberly lives just across the street from Simpson.
He said around 11 p.m. he was getting ready for bed when he heard two loud bangs from outside. “Everything went dark and when I looked out the window I could see the electricity sparking and a flash of light,” says Douberly.
Going outside, Douberly was among a small crowd of local residents that came from their homes and gathered to watch the official response efforts. Crossing the street for a better look, he was surprised to discover a trailer like those you see every day on the road hauling wood or pallets behind a truck—only this one was smashed into the front corner of Simpson’s porch.
“Where did that trailer come from?” Douberly asked. Douberly says a man nearby spoke up, saying, “That’s mine.”
Douberly says first responders from the Sheriff’s Office and the fire department were on site very quickly.
The power came back on in the early morning hours of April 10, but the damage to Simpson’s front porch remains as well as a minor issue with the fiber optic line attached to the power pole.
Michael Crosby, a maintenance supervisor with Conexon Connect, a provider of high speed fiber internet, arrived at the location of the accident around 11 a.m. April 10 to determine what, if anything, needed to be done to repair the fiber optic cable. “I’m surprised the internet is still working as the whole pole went down,” Crosby said. “It looks like all that needs to be done is for one of our crews to come out and resecure the lashing wire that supports the cable.” Crosby pointed out a silver metallic wire that was now spiralling loosely around the cable, indicating it should be normally taut and close against it. Crosby did not give an estimated time of completion, but said it was routine maintenance work and a quick fix.
What will take longer is fixing Simpon’s home. As of the writing of this article, the man driving what Simpson describes as “an older truck” has not yet been named by an official police report, but Simpson’s daughter has already been in contact with his insurance provider and discovered he had only the most basic coverage, leaving both to wonder how Simpson will afford the numerous repairs her home will require after the high speed impact.
The official police report from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office was not yet available before this edition of The Times went to press.
