Rural Missouri - November 2022 - 4

RM | COOPERATION
Disaster
averted
Co-op line truck hit by falling
tree; crew safely escapes
by Derrill Holly |
T
info@ruralmissouri.coop
wo co-op employees were wrapping up a busy afternoon
responding to emergency calls after a violent
storm on Aug. 3 when they faced an unexpected
safety concern of their own.
Journeyman line technician Adam Riegel and service
tech Rod Nesslage were hauling a damaged transformer
and other materials back to a Cuivre River Electric Cooperative
warehouse when winds picked up and lightning
strikes signaled a second wave of severe weather rolling
through the area. A huge tree, likely weakened by heavy
rains, uprooted from beyond the tree line along the blacktop
road. As they were traveling about 45 mph, the tree
came crashing down onto the cab of their 18,000-pound
bucket truck. " Rain was coming down in sheets, and after
I stopped, we could see it did quite a bit of damage to the
hood, " says Adam.
" The tree had landed right on top of the cab and
bounced onto the hood, " adds Rob. " The impact busted the
windshield and blew out the back window. "
They were dazed and a little shocked by the impact.
Tons of wood from the 70-foot white oak covered the front
end of the vehicle. " We were both covered with glass, and I
told Adam not to wipe his face, " says Rod, who retrieved a
whisk broom from under the seat to brush off the glass.
A woman in an approaching vehicle was among the first
to offer help. " We asked her to go back to the crest of a hill
and put her flashers on to alert approaching vehicles of the
hazard, " says Rod.
The truck was still drivable, even with the damaged
windshield, so they moved it from the two-lane highway
into a nearby subdivision to reduce hazards to motorists.
" We didn't want the rest of the vehicles coming from
either direction to run into us, " says Rod.
Other motorists stopped to help the men check for injuries.
Neither man was injured with the exception of a headache
for Adam, who bore the brunt of the initial impact.
" The road was blocked from ditch to ditch with about
20 feet of tree trunk and debris 150 feet behind us when a
4 RURAL MISSOURI | NOVEMBER 2022
photo courtesy Cuivre River Electric Cooperative
While responding to emergency calls, the truck of Adam Riegel and
Rod Nesslage was hit by an uprooted white oak tree.
local emergency medical services supervisor arrived a few
minutes later to offer help, " says Adam.
Collectively the pair has been with Troy-based Cuivre
River for more than 50 years. Between them, the two men
have participated in thousands of tailgate worksite briefings
and safety trainings, but this incident served as a
reminder that unexpected dangers can always occur.
" It's hard to prepare for something like this, " says
Marvin Peasel, the co-op's manager of operations. " We're
always concerned with the safety aspect of what we're doing
on the electric part of it, but hazardous road conditions
and bad weather are a constant threat. "
Cuivre River employees will use the incident to be better
prepared in the field. They'll be discussing unexpected
hazards more at safety meetings in the future, says Marvin.
Another co-op employee's personal vehicle was totaled
by a falling tree as he headed in to respond to a trouble
call earlier this year, he said.
" An incident like this could happen again tomorrow,
even to experienced men, " Marvin says. " Safety concerns
are never limited to routine risks. You have to be prepared
for the unexpected, and during and after such incidents,
ready to take steps to protect yourself and do what's necessary
to secure a scene for public safety. "
Rural Missouri - November 2022

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