By David Young
Last issue, I shared how to stay safe if you ever find yourself in a car-utility pole accident (Do the Bunny Hop, June-July 2026). While I was preparing that piece, an incident happened that could have been extremely dangerous — but wasn’t. My sincere congratulations and appreciation to the Calais highway department for doing everything exactly right in an emergency situation, and for permission to tell the story.
During mud season this spring, the Calais crew was using the town dump truck to spread crushed stone on Moscow Woods Road. In the process, the body of the truck caught the phone line. As the truck moved and pulled the phone line, the resistance broke a utility pole, and the wires came down over the top of the truck. Road foreman John Stafford was driving the truck. He didn’t realize the wires were there, but he felt the truck slow down, and he realized what had happened.
John didn’t have cell coverage, so he radioed road crew member Drew Lasick to go to an area with cell coverage and call 911. While Drew did just that, assistant foreman Tyler Stecker, who was operating the grader, heard the communication over the radio. He had cell coverage, so he called Washington Electric Co-op.
Two parties taking the initiative to call both 911 and the electric co-op right away meant we got to the scene very quickly.
When I arrived, Drew and fellow road crew member Ogden Hersey had already blocked off Moscow Woods Road on one end. The East Montpelier fire department responded to the 911 call, and blocked off the other access point. John had the wherewithal to stay calmly in the truck and wait. The fire department set a perimeter about 500 feet from the dump truck. Four lineworkers from WEC shut off the power, made sure the fuse was down, and then told John, the driver, that it was safe to get out of the truck. Our crew moved the wires and released the truck. After the truck was released, with no harm to either truck or driver, the road crew could move the truck away. Our line crew then reset the pole and restored power.
Here’s what worked:
- John stayed in the truck and called for help.
- Fellow road crew members took the initiative to call WEC as well as 911.
- The crew kept the public well over 50 feet away until help arrived.
I’ve been working in utility safety for more than 14 years. I’ve been to dozens of situations like this, and this was the best-case scenario. John is a 20-year highway department veteran, and he and each one of his colleagues knew exactly what they needed to do. I’m still astounded by how well this went. Accidents happen to everyone. The real test is being prepared, being responsible, and doing the right thing when it counts. Congratulations to the Calais highway department on passing this test with flying colors.
Members can recommend Safety Minute topics and request safety presentations from David Young for their school, organization, or community group. Contact him at 802-224-2340 or david.young@wec.coop.