From left: Prince Edward Hastings MPP Todd Smith, Tal Trees Power Services Corp crew, Brian Fortier, Cody Sullivan, Dave Findlay, Stephen Sine, Mitch Adam, Rick MacDonald, Ryan Melvin. Josh Harder absent, October 12, 2017 (Photo: Mary Thomas/Quinte News)
A Belleville electrical energy crew received praise Thursday for its work restoring electricity to Florida cities hit by Hurricane Irma recently.
The eight-man crew from Tal Trees Power Services Corp. spent 15 days in Florida, part time in St.Petersburg and part time in Seabring.
Manager Foreman Stephen Sine says the people were “pretty miserable without electricity in extreme heat and couldn’t do enough for the Canadians.”
Prince Edward Hastings MPP Todd Smith stopped in at Tal Trees to congratulate the crew.
Smith, Progressive Conservative energy critic, says “the guys worked 18-hour days, sleeping in the back of a truck or on an old cot somewhere.”
He says they gave up two weeks of their lives “to make sure our friends in Florida were able to get their electricity hooked up.”
Sine has been on similar repair missions 12 times. He says it means the crews are prepared if a similar disaster occurs at home.
Sine says he “loves it,” and “as a lineman it’s what I do.”
