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Live wire traps farmer
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · October 31, 2014
A farmer spent more than 90 minutes trapped inside a combine Oct. 23 when the machinery accidentally snagged a low wire and dragged a power pole on top of it.
A 10- to 15-second power outage swept across the city about 6:09 p.m. Oct. 23 when the line came down, but the power came back on and the combine’s driver, Cliff Bowie, was trapped inside.
Bowie had been driving the combine east on South Maple Street when the accident happened about halfway down the block. He brought the combine to a stop in front of 340 South Maple.
The brief outage also knocked out the lights at the Oliphant Street football field, where a junior varsity game was under way. The game was able to continue as the sun had not yet set.
West Branch Fire Department arrived on the scene and blocked access to the area and contacted Alliant Energy to respond and turn off the power. West Branch Police Department responded and helped keep people away from the downed line.
Johnson County Ambulance Service responded and had to stand by until the power was disconnected. An Alliant truck arrived about 7:20 p.m. and disconnected the power about 7:40 p.m.
Fire Chief Kevin Stoolman said Bowie was headed toward a plot of farmed land near the end of South Maple Street, where about 25 to 30 acres of land is farmed.
“I’m glad he’s not hurt,” Stoolman said.
Bowie’s sister, Patti Edge seemed agitated at the scene.
“You should call and get a comment from Mediacom,” she said.
Phyllis Peters, a spokesperson for Mediacom out of West Des Moines, first asked if the Bowie was all right.
“We take safety very, very seriously,” she said, adding that a reporter’s description of the accident “hit a nerve” as a family member the previous week had to have their legs amputated due to an accident involving a combine.
Peters said she did not have specifics on the West Branch accident, but noted that there are regulations for the height of each wire hanging on a pole and the distance between the wires.
“We routinely inspect those lines and record when we inspect them,” she said. “If there is an issue, we quickly take care of it.”
She said power lines are typically highest on a pole, cable TV lines are typically in the middle and phone lines on the bottom.
Peters said she has heard of other accidents where trucks, construction equipment or farm equipment tried to pass under or near lines when a part of the machinery was not lowered completely before being moved.
“It’s similar to a ‘Call before you dig,’” she said, referring to warnings about digging around underground utility lines. “We regret the situation occurred. Thank God no one was seriously injured or worse. That’s a relief.”
Hearing about the West Branch accident, Alliant Energy sent out a news release the next day alerting customers “to pay attention to utility equipment while using farm machinery.”
Justin Foss, spokesperson for Alliant, said the company “by no means” was attempting to say the combine was responsible for the West Branch accident.
He said Alliant has responded to many instances where farm equipment or tractors have hooked a line or guyed wire (which anchors poles to the ground) and pulled down power lines.
Foss said Alliant investigates every instance “where a member of the public hits or damages a piece of equipment.”
He said the company will try to find out if the snagged wire was too low and attempt “to collect damages on behalf of our customers.”
“It’s $600 to $700 for a power pole,” he noted.
He said that sometimes a vehicle will hit a power pole and the driver will not report it, leaving the pole slanted and wires sagging.
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