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Bear Cub Rescued from APS Power Pole
When Brian Clinton climbs into his APS bucket truck, he never knows where the day might take him.
Brian is a Troubleman based in the Prescott area. It’s a critical role focused on troubleshooting – finding and resolving issues with the energy grid. Often the first person dispatched to a power outage, he arrives in his bucket truck to assess electrical equipment and determine what’s causing the problem and how best to fix it to get the lights back on.
The call he received late in the afternoon on Oct. 27 was like no other. The Crown King Fire Department and the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) were requesting help to rescue a bear cub precariously perched on a power pole. As Brian drove nearly an hour and a half down a dirt road from Prescott to Crown King, he remembered seeing recent social media posts about a black bear and her two cubs that had been spotted multiple times near campsites.
As it turned out, AZGFD was with those bears to safely sedate them and relocate them to a more suitable area away from people. One of the startled bear cubs had climbed up a nearby power pole, became entangled in phone lines near electrical equipment and promptly fell asleep. Due to the height and proximity to power lines, they contacted APS.
It was dark when Brian arrived, and the clock was ticking as the sedation medication only lasts so long. He assessed the situation and determined a technique called the "hurt man rescue," utilizing ropes, would be the best option. APS troublemen and lineworkers train on this method annually, to ensure that if an emergency happened while working up on the pole, they could get someone down safely.
So, with ropes in hand, Brian climbed into the bucket and raised himself up to the sleeping cub. He secured the rope around the animal, which AZGFD estimated to weigh 30-60 pounds, and lowered him to the ground.
"His paws were as big as my hands," said Brian, who calls himself an animal lover. "It was pretty exciting. I’ve seen a lot of things in my job and covered a lot of areas and this is one of the most interesting calls I've been on."
For Brian, it was all in a day's work and he was happy to assist.
"We're on the road a lot, so it's not uncommon for us to encounter emergencies like car crashes or roadside fires and we help where we can. I just hope the little fella is ok."
Firefighters with Crown King Fire Department Station 28 were on the scene and captured video of the rescue, including the APS bucket rising up to the bear and Brian securing the cub with ropes and lowering him quickly and safely to the ground, where AZGFD wildlife officers were waiting. Watch it here.
AZGFD relocated and released the mother and sibling cub, sharing this video of the release, while the other cub is being treated for an infection at an animal rehabilitation center that partners with AZGFD.
According to AZGFD, the black bear is the only bear species found in Arizona. To learn more about bears in Arizona, visit AZGFD.com.
Photo courtesy Arizona Game & Fish Dept.
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