OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Old Orchard Beach Police, Fire, Department of Public Works and a local electrican all responded Thursday afternoon when a strong wind gust toppled a light pole onto a couple visiting town.
On Thursday, Sept. 10, at approximately 2 p.m., Old Orchard Beach Police and Fire were called to Old Orchard Street at Milliken Street for a report of a downed light pole.
They arrived to find an adult male and an adult female from Massachusetts suffering from injuries. First responders provided immediate first aid, and then transported the couple to a local hospital.
Department of Public Works employees and a local electrican responded to the scene immediately as well. Downtown light poles are routinely inspected, but DPW and the electrician worked together to conduct immediate emergency inspections of other poles in the area, taking another pole nearby down as a precaution.
Wind gusts on Thursday reached to over 30 mph, according to AccuWeather.
The electrician and DPW employees will be conducting additional inspections of light poles in town starting Friday at 7:30 a.m.
“Our thoughts are with this couple who was visiting our community when this unfortunate accident occurred,” said Interim Town Manager Tim Fleury. “I want to assure both residents and visitors that we are taking steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again even in high winds.”
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