Power line falls on car during ice storm in Oregon, killing 3 and injuring a baby: Authorities
A power line fell on a parked car in northeast Portland, Oregon Wednesday, killing three people and injuring a baby during an ice storm that led to myriad road closures and power outages.
Shortly before noon, dispatchers started receiving frantic calls about a downed power line and people appearing to be electrocuted. A branch had fallen on a power line, causing it to fall onto an SUV, Portland Fire & Rescue said in an emailed statement to USA TODAY.
As the situation unfolded, a resident grabbed the baby from his father, identified as Nash, who was lying on the street in a bid to save its life, according to the statement.
The baby's 21-year-old mother, 15-year-old Ta’Ron Briggs and Nash were found dead upon the firefighters' arrival at the scene. The baby, who was taken for a full medical evaluation is in good condition, a local affiliate reported.
According to the fire department, there was no water applied to any potential car fire as no flames were present and the vehicle was evaluated by the members present and deemed safe from fire danger. The power company later deenergized the line, the statement said.
Portland Fire & Rescue said in the statement they believe the victims were electrocuted upon exiting the car.
Father of the victims says they heard the power line before it fell
Ronald Briggs, the father of Ta’Ron and the young woman, told KGW8 that he and his wife were headed to the grocery store when they heard a loud sound.
"We heard a loud boom. And my wife’s like, 'Oh my god, their car is on fire,'" Briggs said.
Everyone scrambled to get outside as soon as the power line fell on the car, Briggs said.
"They were walking up the hill and they slid back down. My daughter tried to grab her boyfriend, her baby's dad with the baby, and his foot touched the wire," he said.
Ta’Ron, who wanted to help the young family was warned by his father to get away from them.
"Don’t go down there — try to get away from them. And he slid, and he touched the water, and he, and he died too," Briggs said.
Briggs, who lost two kids in one day, expressed how helpless he felt in the situation.
"It just hurts. Seeing my kids dying — I can’t do nothing about it," Briggs said.
Weekend weather forecast: Deep freeze to return to eastern half of US after lull; heavy ice in Pacific Northwest
Power outages, closures across Oregon
According to the Statesman Journal, a USA TODAY network newspaper located in Salem, Oregon, there were about 43,500 customers without power Wednesday afternoon following the storm Tuesday night.
The largest number of those without power were in the Eugene area, where there were over 21,000 outages, according to the Eugene Water & Electric Board.
Portland General Electric said Wednesday nearly 9,000 of its customers were without power across its service area, mostly in the Portland metro area.
Most school districts in the Mid-Valley region were either opening late or closed on Thursday.
Oregon weekend weather forecast
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alan Reppert told USA TODAY Wednesday that an ongoing storm in the Pacific Northwest will bring "some major ice to Portland and Seattle."
The weather service said high snowfall rates and blowing snow are possible and widespread winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories went in effect on Wednesday.
Contributing: Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY; Zach Urness, Salem Statesman Journal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oregon ice storm: Power line falls on car and kills 3, injuries a baby
