Why Pasco woman's appliances stopped working a mystery

Saturday, February 9, 2008

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Katie Pederson opens her microwave that doesn't work anymore.

PASCO COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- A mystery surrounds why all of a woman's appliances suddenly stopped working one day.

But Katie Pederson, of Seven Springs, feels she knows why. She believes they got fried by a surge of electricity to her home.

The strange incident happened Jan. 31 at the same she saw a water utility man digging outside her house. She was watching her granddaughter at the time.

"I yelled at him and said stop what you are doing," Pederson said. "Whatever you doing you are messing up my appliances, you are messing up my phones."

Twenty minutes later Pederson "heard a bang, a flame came from out underneath my desk, a fire started, I grabbed her, hit the breaker box and called 911."

Pederson said she realized all her appliances no longer worked.

"I had nothing working," Pederson said. "My microwave, my oven my clocks, my phones."

However, the outlet did work.

Electrical disturbances happened at her neighbors home, too. He's equally puzzled.

"I walked in the front door, my recorder was on, on my answering machine telling me to reset it, we had a power surge," said Jim Castle. "I walked into the living room and the tv turned on by itself."

Pederson's electrician said it was uneven voltage coming into the house.

Progress Energy said it was likely a water utility worker digging in that area who disturbed the power cable running to her house.

The water utility, Aloha, said it wasn't them.

All this is frustrating to Pedersen, who would like the party at fault to compensate her for frying all her appliances.

Aloha said if it hit another utility's line it would call that utility to let them know.

The company said they were in the neighborhood on the day in question to repair a leak at a neighbor's meter but did not cause the electrical problems to the two houses.

Progress Energy said there's no evidence anyone called before digging at the property to see if there were any power lines underground.

E-mail TV reporter Michelle Kay

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