Gilsum in the News: Falling Tree Leaves Main Street in the Dark
July 15, 2008 - Main Street residents were left in the dark Tuesday evening after a tree fell across the wires on upper Main Street near the Freeman residence. The incident occurred shortly after 7:00 p.m. Power was restored around 9:00 p.m. The fallen tree, suspended on the sagging wires, briefly caught fire before snapping one high voltage wire and shorting out several other lines. According to a PSNH lineman on the scene, the line that snapped was carrying about 12,500 volts. The charged, unshielded steel cable snapped back and forth on the ground before finally losing power.
The weight of the tree pulled the wires down several feet, bent two adjacent telephone poles and caused poles all the way down Main Street to sway hard enough to pull the wires off the Congregational Church several hundred feet away. The fire smouldered for about 10 minutes before fuses exploded on the poles with a loud bang and a blue flash, leaving Main Street, Alstead Hill Road in the dark. Click here to see photos of the mishap.