City crews responded to a tense call yesterday afternoon when a loveable pup known to many members of the Downtown Eastside community was electrocuted after coming into contact with an electrified access panel.
The panel was on a light pole at the corner of East Cordova and Columbia streets and covered by a caution sign but that didn't prevent the curious dog, Titan.
Witnesses describe the moment as 'truly horrific' on Twitter, but Titan is reportedly recovering well.
"We are aware of the unfortunate incident that took place in the Gastown area and immediately dispatched an electrical crew to investigate," the City tells V.I.A. in an emailed statement.
Indeed, witnesses say the City of Vancouver's Traffic and Electrical department were on scene within an hour and the situation was quickly resolved. The City says that crews determined there was an underground short which electrified the junction box which is where the wire connections/splices are located to provide power to the street lights.
"There was a short circuit in the wiring, as a result, the metal lid of the junction box and the pole got energized, the city explains. "A nearby resident placed a slip hazard sign over the cover until City crews arrived."
Once crews were on-scene they reportedly "created a safe work zone with caution tape to keep people away and aware of the situation." They also turned off the kiosk which feeds the lights and identified which breaker caused the short circuit.
They identified a burnt out wire resulting from a short circuit as the cause of the energized metal lid and pole and then locked out the breaker in the panel and cleared the fault, the continue. "Occurrences like this are rare but have happened here and in other cities across North America due to aging infrastructure."
The situation has now been resplved and the city says they "are happy to hear that Titan the dog is OK."
I witnessed this from our office window. It was truly horrific.
— JK (@jkaldestad) February 28, 2023
