Fire Department's Ladder 1 Gets Tangled with Suspected Power Line

SAN ANGELO, TX — A line of thunderstorms moved through San Angelo Saturday night with high winds, rain and pea-sized hail.

When prepping for the likely deluge of emergency calls afterwards, the San Angelo Fire Department moved Ladder 1 out. As the iconic fire truck of the San Angelo Fire Department drove east down College St. approaching N. Chadbourne St., what was feared to be a power line was hanging low due to wind damage. Ladder 1 drove into it and became tangled with the overhead wire.

The Fire Department called AEP, the power company, as firefighter personnel bailed out of the fire truck. But before AEP arrived, they determined that the low hanging wire now entangled with Ladder 1 was actually just a “communications line” for Internet or phone. There was no danger of electrocution.

The incident happened at around 9:30 p.m. Ladder 1 is untangled now, but Chadbourne at College is closed down because of the wire. A report over the radio said the wire was down from City Hall all the way to N. Oakes St. to the east.