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Tue August 15, 2017
Emily Buenzle
A crane fell on a house in Campbell, Calif., while crews from San Jose-based King Crane, contracted by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), were replacing a power pole in a nearby backyard Aug. 8. The crane, a 2011 Link-Belt, registered to Bigge Crane and Rigging Co., was extended about 200 ft. when it fell over, NBC reported.
Crews worked to remove it from the house for more than 12 hours using two other cranes before eventually loading it onto a truck. Residents in the surrounding houses were evacuated during the process.
Betsy Perry, whose shed was hit by the crane, said, “Before it happened, I wasn't concerned at all because they said, 'We do this all the time.'”
“It was overextended,” said neighbor John Franks, “You can only reach so far with a crane, and if the weight shifted the wrong way, it's going to go down.”
According to PG&E, 26 customers didn't have power the afternoon of Aug. 8, though police said the power had been shut off before the company started doing the repair work. The next day, PG&E workers were back, restoring power and completing the original task of replacing the power pole.
The incident is currently under investigation, and police said they don't know yet why the crane fell. According to Cal/OSHA, it could take up to four months to figure out what happened, NBC reported.