A mature bald eagle is dead after it collided with a power pole and power lines near Windsor Park on Monday afternoon.
It was all hands on deck as BC Hydro rushed to repair the live wires which fell on a landscaper’s truck. Oak Bay fire and police controlled the intersection. And nearly 1,500 residents were without power.
Crews were on site as of 2:45 p.m. in a bid to restore power to those living south of Bowker Place, north of Beach Drive and east of Hampshire Road.
Power is out on Oak Bay Avenue. Apparently a bald eagle struck a hydro pole at Currie & Newport. pic.twitter.com/JYkWIZTE6A
— Oak Bay News (@OakBayNews) October 28, 2019
The outage was caused by an eagle which died, catastrophically, when it hit the main lines near the intersection of Newport and Currie roads beside Windsor Park.
“The eagle had entry wounds and exit wounds from the incident electrical current,” said Oak Bay assistant fire chief Cam Thomson.
BC Hydro spokesperson Ted Olynyk says bird strikes are rare south of Campbell River.
“North of Campbell River it happens, because there’s a lot of fish [packing], or by landfills, where eagles are busy. People I’ve talked to don’t recall it happening in Oak Bay. It’s extremely rare.”
There are pole covers and diverters that protect birds and keep them off power poles but are unlikely to be installed in Greater Victoria as bird strikes are rare.
@bchydro is repairing a line in Newport that came down when a bald eagle ran into a pole. It died. There was like sparks as two main wires came down. pic.twitter.com/4mnfYTzKqz
— Oak Bay News (@OakBayNews) October 28, 2019
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