Videos/Pictures: Major Ice Storm Causes Power Lines to Spark and Ignite

A video shows a power line catching on fire after a tree fell on it during a major ice storm in Indiana over the weekend.

Fox Weather reported that the fire occurred after a tree fell onto a power line and caused a power transformer to break in the backyard of a house in Evansville, Indiana, during an ice storm.

According to Fox Weather, the Indiana power line incident was recorded by Edward Barnhill, who said, “While sitting in my home, I heard a loud crash. I went to observe, and as I did, I saw sparks from a power line.”

The video shows sparks coming from the power line before it erupts on fire. The sparking of the electrical line can also be heard in the background of the video in addition to an unidentified woman yelling, “Get in the house!”

Sharing the video on X, formerly Twitter, Weather Bug wrote, “A power line caught on fire during an ice storm in Evansville, Ind., on January 5, as thousands were left without power. Footage shows a power line on fire and the sounds of electrical sparking.”

Fox Weather reported that Barnhill and over 17,000 residents in Evansville’s Vanderburgh County lost power over the weekend. As of Wednesday, PowerOutage.us showed less than 7,000 electric customers were without power.

According to the Indiana Environmental Reporter, some parts of Indiana had accumulations of up to 12 inches of snow over the weekend. The outlet noted that while northern and central Indiana had higher snow accumulations, the southern region of Indiana experienced a combination of snow and ice.

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The Indiana Environmental Reporter said that some areas of southern Indiana had between 0.15 and 0.25 inches of ice that accumulated on power lines, trees, and roads.

Sharing another video on social media, an Indiana resident tweeted, “This ice storm is nuts! A limb just fell on the @lgeku power transmission lines behind my neighbor’s house- it didn’t take the lines out, but did cause 3 BIG arcs/explosions. Now, the limb is sitting on the lines, burning. And yet, we still have power.”

Shortly after the initial post, the social media user shared another video of the power line pulsing and continuing to spark alongside the caption, “Annnndddd power just went out.”