PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Monsoon weather brought high winds and heavy rain Monday night, knocking down power poles and damaging power lines across the Valley.
Crews at the corner of 19th Avenue and Campbell saw sparks flying from live wires. The arcing electricity looked like fireworks, and the damaged lines were near a neighborhood.
Phoenix police and fire crews blocked off the area, calling it extremely dangerous. SRP spokesperson Clint Bragg said downed or damaged lines can carry “hundreds of thousands of volts.”
“You’re dealing with live electricity, and we’re not talking the same 110 volts here,” Bragg said. “So it can be a very dangerous job.”
Bragg said if you see a damaged or downed line, the safest move is to stay away and go back inside. He also warned that electricity can travel through the ground and through anything that conducts power.
“If it does snap and comes down to the ground, then up to 100 feet out [it can] affect anything that conducts electricity within that radius,” Bragg said.
That could include standing water on a roadway, metal fences, poles — or people.
As monsoon activity ramps up, SRP urges people to call 911 if a storm knocks down or damages a wire. Bragg said SRP often already knows about the problem if police are on scene, but residents can also call SRP’s emergency line at 602-236-8888.
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