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Downed Power Lines and Other Outdoor Hazards
If a power line hits your car or truck when you’re in it, stay inside until emergency workers arrive. Warn others to stay away from your car: if the line is live, and we always must assume that it is, it can kill them.
If you must exit the car because of fire or another emergency:
- Jump clear without touching the car and the ground at the same time.
- Land with your feet together.
- Shuffle away with your feet close together.
- Immediately call 911 with the location of the downed power line on a vehicle or across a road.
- Never climb power poles or transmission towers. Stay clear of high voltage towers; never touch or climb on one.
- Don’t shoot or throw rocks at the ceramic insulators that keep high voltage overhead wires away from the supporting poles and towers.
- Keep away from transformers. Transformers in substations, on poles and in boxes in the yard change high voltage to levels that can be used in homes or businesses. If you find a transformer with an open door, call CORED at 865 425-1803 or 911. After hours the call will be sent to the City’s emergency dispatch center.
NFPA’s New Electrical Safety PSA
If you have a question about electrical safety, contact Ardo Ba or phone 865 425-1861.