JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — A Jefferson Parish neighborhood is calling for Entergy to improve their line maintenance after an overhanging limb caught fire, cutting power to houses, and leaving 19 homes without power till the early hours of Sunday morning.
Fire crews were called to Marilyn Avenue in Jefferson Parish Around 8 p.m. Saturday. Neighbors said a tree limb was struck by lightning and caught fire.
One neighbor who asked we protect their identity said it took Entergy nearly three hours to arrive and turn the power off. Fire crews were unable to work safely as live wires are extremely dangerous. The tree blaze eventually blew out the transformer.
“To me, as a customer of theirs, we’re being failed," the resident said. “The limb broke off and severed the line, here on Marilyn and when it severed the line, the fire department has to sit here and wait for Entergy to sit here and cut the power.”
“We ended up losing power for a total of about 8-8.5 hours when we could’ve been out for a total of just an hour," the resident said.
An unplanned power outage in the middle of a Louisiana summer. Neighbors said that one resident on Marylin Avenue is on oxygen, another on insulin and many have pets.
“Luckily the fire department was here in five minutes, but if it hadn’t been raining for the last few weeks, we could be looking at a situation with two to three houses burned completely down to the ground.,” the resident said.
In the midst of hurricane season, neighbors said their greatest concern is if a hurricane ripped through the area, the repercussions could be much worse.
Kristy Altazan, who lives next door to the house where the limb caught fire is calling for Entergy to take responsibility.
“A fire, an active burning fire seems pretty important to me,” Altazan said.
She says many property owners in the neighborhood have asked Entergy to come out and chop down overhanging limbs, she says she wants line work in her neighborhood maintained.
“What does it take for them to come out, is it literally going to take? Is it going to take someone’s house burning to the ground and someone losing their live? Would they come then?” Altazan said. “We have limbs hanging over all the lines in the backyard, pretty much every house on this street does.”
“Had you trimmed the trees to begin with, none of this would’ve happened.”
WWL-TV has reached out to Entergy and is waiting for a response.