Photo by Michael Woodward

UNSAFE MERGER: A Honda was dragged about 200 feet by a big rig on I-5 Thursday afternoon. No one was injured.

A fallen oak tree hit a power pole at 20025 Loop Street in Anderson on Thursday morning, snapping the pole, causing a small fire and loss of power for seven homes.

The Anderson Fire Protection District responded at 9:40 a.m. and roped-off the area due to the live, smoldering power lines lying across the ground. An exploding transformer was also involved in the fire.

A PG&E technician arrived at 10:20 a.m. to turn off the power to the downed lines and transformer. PG&E crews were at work repairing the lines later that day, said Howard Fincher, fire marshal in the Anderson district.

“It’s the property owner’s responsibility for taking care of trees,” Fincher said. “The oak looked healthy, but was rotted inside; it was an act of god.”

Fincher said he would speak with the owners about taking the whole tree down and trimming other trees to keep them from becoming a fire hazard.

When asked, PG&E cuts away branches that endanger power lines, Fincher said.

“They should be forthwith in taking care of that,” he said. “It’s part of their responsibility for maintaining an easement.”

According to a PG&E service agent, the company will send a work crew to trim branches if the branch is within five feet of the power line. Crews will not service branches that endanger cable or telephone lines.