Pole-top fire destroys nest, knocks out power
The osprey nest on a power pole in the Kidd Island Bay area was destroyed Thursday in a pole-top fire. Workers from Kootenai Electric Cooperative installed a new power pole and a safe nesting platform near the pole, salvaging pieces of the original next for the birds. The osprey are OK and now settling into their new home. (Courtesy photo)
An osprey in Kidd Island Bay peers over the side of its new home on a nesting platform installed Thursday. The nest the birds made on top of a power pole caught fire and caused a power outage Wednesday night, but Kootenai Electric Cooperative workers installed the new platform separate from the power pole and salvaged part of the old nest. The birds are doing fine. (Courtesy photo)
Kootenai Electric Cooperative workers installed an osprey nesting platform Thursday after a nest caused a pole-top fire and knocked out power Wednesday night in the Kidd Island Bay area. Neighbors (and birds) are pleased with KEC's work to keep the osprey safe. (Photo courtesy of Kootenai Electric Cooperative)
Pole-top fire destroys nest, knocks out power
A fire atop a power pole in the Kidd Island Bay area Wednesday night knocked out power and destroyed an osprey nest, almost rendering its feathered tenants homeless.
"The nest literally blew up on them," Jim Faucher, who lives down the road from his avian neighbors, said Friday.
But workers from Kootenai Electric Cooperative restored power and came to the rescue of the displaced raptors Thursday by installing a safe nesting pole near the power pole where the birds made their former home. The workers even salvaged pieces of the destroyed nest, giving the osprey a little piece of familiar comfort in their new digs.
The osprey survived the fire and have started rebuilding.
“They are rocking and rolling in that platform,” said Faucher, who reported seeing the birds carrying sticks to the new nest and already settling in.
Faucher gave big kudos to KEC for taking care of the birds in this way.
"I drove by there a couple times, they were just so nice and congenial," he said, adding that the human neighbors were happy too.
"Everyone we’ve talked to is just as pleased as could be," he said. "It was quite heartwarming."
Julie Turbin, KEC’s vice president of operations and operational services, said KEC is always working to keep the lights on and protect the local wildlife and environment.
"In terms of avian protection, our current practice is to frame power poles (raptor framing) to discourage birds from building nests on them," she said. "In areas where we have older infrastructure without raptor framing, we may add bird guards or build safe nesting platforms. This involves putting up another pole, with a platform, close to the existing pole to entice the birds to nest there."
Turbin said this has been successful in the past, and the new platform in the Kidd Island Bay area is expected to provide a safe nesting space for years to come.
"Our crews also put up a bird guard on the energized pole near the new platform to further deter birds from nesting on it," she said.
