Detroit family blasts DTE for allegedly not prioritizing downed power line that killed dog

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Nearly two weeks after torrential rains and tornadoes hit Southeast Michigan, one Metro Detroit woman is criticizing DTE for its response to her call about a downed wire.

Detroit dog dies from downed power line

What they're saying:

A Detroit resident is heartbroken because she says this transformer blowing up led to the death of her dog, Draco. Ingrid Pollock says she called DTE after a transformer blew up and led to a downed wire on her property.

Pollock says she and multiple family members called DTE to have the downed wire removed, but they did not get assistance until her son intervened.

"The night of the storm, a transformer blew up behind my garage," Pollock said. "It electrified my fence, which electrocuted my dog, so I contacted DTE to let them know it was a live wire in my yard and afraid. That wire was down in my yard for around 36 hours. My son saw some workers on Joy Road, DTE workers, and stopped and asked them why they were restoring the power to a business instead of getting live wire up in the yard. They followed him, thank God for those DTE workers, then followed him back to the house, saw the situation, they called DTE and said they weren’t leaving until they took care of that wire. They took care of the wire, but it was never an order from DTE."

DTE's response

The other side:

FOX 2 reached out to DTE for an interview, they say they were saddened to hear about the dog and offered this statement, which reads in part:

"Please treat every downed line as if it's energized, no matter how it looks. Stay at least 25 feet away from any line and anything it may be touching. Keep children and pets indoors and away from affected areas until crews have safely made repairs."

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