We’ve heard that “it takes a village to raise a child,” but often it takes a community to handle a crisis. Recently I experienced this truth when my carbon monoxide detector chirped in the middle of Saturday night. I scrambled out of bed and saw my stove clock blinking, my refrigerator light dim, and no red light on my workstation surge protector. Then I smelled something electrical smoldering and called the fire department. Soon I had four burly firefighters in my manufactured home and then a city lineman. With power surging, electronics and lights failing, and diagnosis inconclusive, crew chief Ken said the power to my home must be shut down and I needed shelter.
You know you have good neighbours when you call at 3:30 a.m. and ask if you can spend the rest of the night on their couch and they immediately come and fetch you. I lived with Bruce and Dayle and was merrily folded into their pre-holiday family life as the “refugee neighbour” for the next three days as we dealt with the electrical issue in my home.
Park managers, Rosalee and Gary, along with the park’s electrical contractor, G. Little, tackled my situation immediately on Sunday morning, and by Monday morning, Ken and Paul had diagnosed a fault in the neutral wire of the underground supply cable to my home affecting my 120-volt service and had contacted the city to get immediate permanent overhead electrical connection.
Guardian Heating came out as soon as power was restored and Marcus installed heaters until a new circuit board arrived. Penticton Appliance had a good refurbished stove and Connie had it installed and the old one hauled out the very next day. The park owner was in daily contact with management and authorized full payment for all costs incurred, including remuneration for damaged electrical components and equipment in my home.
I am so grateful to all these people, companies and the city who formed the community responding to my crisis. And by way of caution, do remember the importance of monitoring the health of the electrical service to your home. If warning devices hadn’t sounded as electrical surging in my 120-volt line fried their innards when I was home, I could have returned to an ash heap. Friends, thanks. I had an especially happy holiday season filled with gratitude.
Merle Kindred
Penticton
