Vancouver resident concerned over live wires left exposed at busy intersection

A Yaletown resident is concerned about electrical wiring that was left exposed by City of Vancouver crews at a busy downtown intersection.

Eric Wilk said he tested at least five of the wires in different corners at Davie Street and Pacific Boulevard earlier this week. Using a multimeter, the engineer found at least three of them were carrying live electrical current.

"If you were to touch them, hopefully it's just a small shock, but it could go much worse," said Wiik. "I don't want to be overly alarmist about it, but it could be serious … it could be fatal."

Safety hazard

Wiik said the wires posed a number of safety hazards for people in the area, which are close to a community centre and elementary school.

He said it's very unusual to see wires exposed after a light pole is replaced, as cables are normally buried under the concrete.

"There's probably 20 people who show up to switch the pole around, including electricians," he said. "It's very strange that these particular cables would not be done at the same time."

City response

Wiik said he filed a complaint with the city about the wires on Jan. 11, but was later told by a 311 operator that someone had checked the area and said it was fine.

"I disagree with that assessment," Wiik said. "As a professional engineer, my paramount duty is to uphold public safety … when I see this kind of stuff, I'm obligated to act on it and make sure something is done about it."

On Thursday, officials said the exposed wires were a result of work done by the city and Coast Mountain Bus Company crews.

Tobin Postma, Vancouver's strategic issues manager, said the cables were "vandalized" after crews left them overnight

He said workers have been dispatched to fix the issue, and that engineering staff would be conducting a safety review as a result of the incident.