During a monsoon storm Friday, June 21, Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative lineworkers were at the scene of downed power lines for almost 13 hours battling weather and bees while restoring power in St. David.
“Our guys were absolutely amazing,” says Deana Donovan, Benson area operations manager. “The teamwork and dedication of everyone responding to this situation made it so we were able to get the power back on as soon as possible, with everyone able to go home safely.”
Lineman Foreman A.J. Jacquez notified Deana and fellow Benson lineworkers of the outage at 7:47 p.m. when he spotted a large, dead Cottonwood tree that fell across power lines near the intersection of Highway 80 and South Sybil Road in St. David.
“It was a 3-phase distribution line, and thankfully, the power pole didn’t break, but it was twisted near the highway,” Deana says. “The team needed to be careful in releasing the pressure of the line on that pole ensuring that the pole would not break.”
Once on the scene, SSVEC crews realized the size of the tree and the potential dangers to traffic on Highway 80 would require additional help from a variety of area agencies.
“We already had an outage in Pomerene at that time and 2 of our crew members were addressing that issue when this happened,” Deana says.
She called out another 3 lineworkers while A.J. gathered equipment from the Benson construction and maintenance yard.
Deana notified authorities about the fallen tree explaining that during isolation of the line, the lines across the highway could fall if the pole broke. SSVEC needed traffic control assistance to reduce additional hazards for the public and the crew members.
“The sheriff’s department immediately dispatched 4 deputies, and the Arizona Department of Transportation responded with sign trucks to notify motorists of the work being done,” she says.
For a short time, Highway 80 at North Sybil Road was closed until the pole was secured on South Sybil Road.
Cochise County Highway Department responded with a large front-end loader to move the tree and repair fissures on South Sybil Road. This allowed SSVEC crews to access the remaining damage.
By 10:30 p.m., less than 3 hours after the initial outage, all but 15 of the 266 meters affected by the downed tree were back in power.
“We still had members on South Sybil Road who didn’t have electricity, so we kept working,” Deana says.
Once work began on removing the tree, lineworkers discovered another danger: bees.
With the advice of Freddie Lavin with Cochise County, Deana contacted the St. David Fire Department, which sprayed the tree to reduce the volume of swarming bees. Lineworkers wore bee suits and swarms of bees returned just before 6 a.m. on Saturday, June 22.
“We were lucky that no 1 was stung,” Deana says. “By 8 a.m. Saturday, crews energized the remaining members affected by this storm damage.”
The restoration required all Benson area lineworkers.
“It was a huge effort by everyone,” Deana says. “It is always a win when everyone goes home safe.”