MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Imagine letting someone trim trees in your backyard and that process turns into a brush fire hours later.
As Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) works toward its goal of trimming hundreds of miles of trees in Shelby County, one of the companies contracted to do the job has seen some issues while trimming trees.
Friday morning, Jordan Levi received a knock at his door from a tree trimming company contracted by MLGW. The company asked him if it was okay for them to cut tree limbs in his backyard and he agreed, but he didn’t know what would happen next.
“Absolute destruction, I am not even sure if these lines are currently live. As you can imagine, we have tried our best to stay away from them,” said Levi.
MLGW lines in Jordan Levi’s backyard(Action News 5)
He checked his home security camera and saw a fire truck outside his home and was told by neighbors a fire broke out while the company was trimming trees. Levi says he was out of town during this entire incident.
In a statement, MLGW said in part, “Safety is a top priority at MLGW, and the companies that we contract with also have high safety standards as tree trimming can be dangerous work”.
It goes on to say, “The minor incident on March 22nd was the result of cut limbs falling and hitting a secondary wire, causing a small bush to catch fire.”
Just weeks prior, another fire broke out in an East Memphis neighborhood because of a tree-trimming truck.
MLGW said this happened because “a contractor’s truck experienced an internal electrical issue that caused a small fire.”
Now, days after the fire, Levi’s backyard is full of downed burned lines and broken tree limbs.
Levi says he called MLGW, AT&T, and Comcast and asked who is responsible for fixing the damage, but he said he feels unheard.
“I think the least you can ask for is transparency to your customers and to the citizens of this city,” he said.
After several emails, MLGW told Action News 5 they would repair the wires damaged by Friday’s fire.
The utility also noted that as of March 15, 2024, the utility has completed 732 miles of tree trimming, which is 52.3% of its goal for the year.
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https://www.actionnews5.com/2024/03/26/absolute-destruction-mlgw-tree-trimming-process-causes-issues-some-memphians/
