By Eric Francis, Standard Correspondent
HARTLAND – Power was knocked out along swathes of the Brownsville Road up in to Jenneville and clear out the County Road in Windsor just before noon on Friday, after a large poplar tree split apart and crashed down onto power lines opposite the intersection where the Jenneville Road meets the Brownsville Road.
The live power lines were pushed down onto an electric fence ringing a five-acre field, and the resulting massive surge of juice sent flames and smoke sizzling out from each fence post and insulator around the pasture, sparking a series of tiny spot fires.
Hartland Fire Captain Greg Harrington said the fires were of minimal concern, but neighbors and firefighters worked to keep two Hereford steers that were in the pasture away from the sizzling fence line until it was confirmed that the circuit had gone dead.
Green Mountain Power expected to have power restored to all of their customers in the area by early afternoon.