Watch: Hurricane Sandy Electrical Fire

Ted Coyle, a resident of Chandler Lane in Villanova, said he does not like to complain, but that he found when lives were at risk there was not good communication and enough help.

On Monday evening a tree on his road fell on wires and caught fire. Coyle and other neighbors called PECO, but he said it was not until the following afternoon that a PECO crew came to the scene. There, a PECO employee told him that the number of people in an outage that call contributes to the priority of the service.

Coyle said they now randomly lose power three or four times a month. “The problem is, what the heck’s the power company doing and when we do have a crisis when people could die, total ineptitude in response,” he said.

He said barriers that emergency response units put up do not really keep people out or convey the danger of live wires. He said it was only neighbors standing outside together that prevented another neighbor from unknowingly driving into a dangling one.

In preparation for the next time, Coyle said he plans on getting all of his neighbors to call PECO during outages. “We’re buying camping supplies… I don’t know what else to do.”

Coyle said while Radnor Township employees did “an incredible job,” he thought that emergency service units were lacking in the right protocol for the situation.

They blocked off the street, but “didn’t go door-to-door to see if anyone needs help.”