Update: The Harrison Mills woman in this news story was Shirley Nate.
Sadly, she succumbed to her injuries a few weeks after this story was published.
Read her story here: Shirley’s Story
Harrison Mills woman suffered severe burns, while two of her dogs were killed in bizarre accident.
As seen in Agassiz-Harrison Observer by Jessica Peters, October 28, 2015.
The Harrison Mills woman who was badly burned by electricity last weekend is in stable condition in hospital, according to a family member.
The woman was walking with her dogs in her rural community last Sunday, when they walked near a low-hanging, live hydro line. The two dogs were killed and the woman’s body caught fire. She managed to yell for help, attracting the attention of campers in the nearby Kilby Campground.
The woman has now lost both her arms, undergone numerous skin graphs, and faces years of rehabilitation, said her sister Laura Nichols, who lives in Chilliwack.
With her sister still unable to communicate, it’s been difficult to piece together what happened that day. Her family is also trying to find some clarity among a common held belief that BC Hydro was informed of the damaged hydro line. It had been swaying about two feet from the ground in a harvested corn field since the massive windstorm that hit the area over the Thanksgiving weekend.
It’s a small community, with only a handful of houses, but Nichols notes that the Kilby campground and historic site nearby are busy areas.
BC Hydro has stated that they did not know there was a power line down in the area, and would have fixed it immediately as per their protocol. Neighbours in the area say the power line feeds a pumphouse managed by the District of Kent.
“The whole neighbourhood is fantastic,” Nichols said. “I’ve spoken to every one of them. But we need to know if the call was made.”
She is hoping anyone with more information about the incident that day, or in the days leading up to it, will contact the RCMP.
And she hopes people will hear the story and remember not to assume that someone else has made an important safety call.
“You should always go a bit further,” she said, when you notice something unsafe.
Kent’s mayor, John Van Laerhoven, said that he has spoken with the woman’s family and relayed all the information they have at this time. He said the District’s staff was unaware there was a problem with the power line prior to this incident.
He said the District of Kent, which stretches from the Agassiz-Rosedale bridge, to Harrison Mills, and north of Harrison Hot Springs, is too large to check on all areas after storms.
“I don’t think we have the staff to drive down every road, and drive every dike,” he said.
He added that in the event that anyone sees a downed power line, they should report it to BC Hydro immediately.
“It’s a Hydro issue,” he said. “We don’t know anything other than that, that it went down and Hydro is saying they weren’t called.”
‘In Their Name’ is the campaign of ‘The BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society’ – a BC registered non-profit organization comprised of volunteer families who have lost a loved one to wrongful death in BC and were denied access to justice. In response to the biggest human rights issue facing the province today, our goal is to modernize British Columbia’s antiquated wrongful death legislation, which predates confederation (1846). Under current legislation, the value of a human life is measured only by the deceased’s future lost income, so long as they had dependents.