Published in the January 24, 2017 edition.
WAKEFIELD — High wind gusts kept local public safety personnel busy overnight dealing with uprooted trees and fallen branches as well as one utility pole that fell across Main Street and was hit by a motorist. Falling temperatures also brought out DPW trucks to salt roads that were starting to freeze up at around 2 a.m.
At about 1:15 a.m. police were called after a public tree was uprooted and took wires down on and scattered debris on Eastern Avenue. Police notified the DPW and the Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department, which also responded.
At about 3:20 a.m., police received a report of a utility pole that had fallen onto Main Street in Greenwood. Minutes later, before police could arrive, a 67-year-old Melrose man driving a 2012 Ford Fusion hit the felled pole as he was driving north on Main Street. No injuries were reported, but the car sustained a flat tire. DPW crews arrived and moved the pole to the side of the road. MGLD Manager Peter Dion said this morning that it was a guy stub pole that had no wires on it, so electrical service was not affected. Light Department crews will replace the stub pole.
At about 6 a.m. today, a caller reported to police that a neighbor’s tree had fallen on her house on Green Street. The Fire Department was called to check on the stability of the roof. As the tree was not a town-owned tree, the homeowner was advised to contact a tree contractor and her insurance company.
DPW Director Richard Stinson said that several large tree limbs came down overnight due to the wind as well as a number of smaller branches. He said that a four-man tree crew went out at about 1 a.m. to deal with the downed tree limbs. He said that crews will be out today looking for any remaining issues that may not have been called in.
“It was pretty windy,” Stinson said. “Considering how strong the gusts were, we made out pretty well overall.”
