Businessman Turns to Channel 3 for Broken Power Pole

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Story Published: Jul 17, 2008 at 5:13 PM MST

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2008 at 11:19 PM MST

By Anthony Congi

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IDAHO FALLS - Over the last year, Richard Matheson has seen this guy wire in front of his janitorial supply shop hit by drivers numerous times. He says people usually just see what damage is done and leave. But the most recent accident did more damage than just to the wire.

Matheson: "One just ran into it the other day again and after they left, I looked up and the arm on the pole was busted."

Before the cross arm was broken, Richard called to figure out who was in charge of the pole. He called the power company but they say it belongs to the railroad. He called Union Pacific, but they told him it is private property and they don't know it's their pole.

After the latest hit to the pole, Richard didn't want to see any one or anything be damaged so he tried calling again, but still got the run around.

Matheson: "I told them at that point, when I was talking to them if I couldn't find out who it was I was just gonna call the news and see if they could find out."

So he did. I spent the morning investigating. Turns out, it does belong to the railroad. After looking at the pole this morning, Richard called a couple hours later saying Union Pacific was there fixing the busted pole.

Matheson: "I'm happy about it because I've seen several people run into this guy wire and I'm surprised nothings happened up until this point but with the broken cross arm it made it a lot more dangerous than it was so I'm glad it's getting taken care of."

I talked to the signal supervisor for Union Pacific, he says today was the first he heard about the pole. He says had he known, he would have addressed it sooner because the last thing he wants is for someone to get hurt.

If you have a problem you'd like us to look into email us at newsroom@kidk.com or call us here at the station 523-8922.

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