Capital Electric crews provide aid to SD coop
The outages began on Monday, Nov. 28. A week and a half later, Lake Region Electric still required extra manpower to fix lines and poles in Webster, S.D.
Capital Electric Cooperative sent Lead Lineman Rick Dressler along with Steve Herrington, Jeff Holzer and Brad Johnson to fix an estimated 300 downed poles. After a week, Rick and Steve returned, and Seth Lothspeich and John Frey took their place.
Deep snow and full ditches made conditions difficult to
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Lineworkers from left to right: John Frey, Steve Harrington, Jeff Holzer, Brad Johnson, Rick Dressler and Seth Lothspeich. |
The days were cold, and the nights were colder. Dressler says the Capital Electric crew spent their first night in a hotel with no power. “The city of Webster is not served by the co-op, so we had no control over when the power would come on,” he says. “I put my coveralls on to sleep.”
By the second night, the power came on for short periods of time. “It was interesting. The hallways were pitch dark, and to get to our rooms, we had to use the light from our cell phones,” Dressler says with a laugh.
During the days, the lineworkers communicated by cell phones and worked with a member from Lake Region Electric, who showed the crew where to go and what needed to be done.
“Before we energized any lines, we had to make sure that they knew where we were at and what line we’d be working on,” Dressler says.
While the working conditions were rough, the people in the Webster community appreciated the lineworkers’ volunteer efforts. Dressler says he was inspired by the good spirits of fellow volunteers.
“While we were there, we worked with two guys from Iowa. One man was 62 years old. He never complained once, and did more than his share of the work. I thought his positive attitude was great.”