Blue Ridge Electric Issues Alert for Child Safety: Dont Be Like Mike
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Corporate Communications, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383 ext. 3213; Pager:1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
LENOIR, N.C., (July 2, 2002) – Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation has issued a warning for adults and children to stay away from power lines and not to be “Like Mike.” The warning comes in light of the movie “Like Mike” in which the central character reaches for a pair of basketball shoes hanging from a power line during a rainstorm. The movie opens Wednesday across North Carolina.
“Touching power lines in real life can be deadly in any type of weather,” warned Ronnie Jewell, safety and training manager for Blue Ridge Electric. Blue Ridge Electric maintains nearly 7,000 miles of distribution and transmission power lines in 6 counties.
“Reaching for anything hanging from a power line is dangerous and could kill you,” Jewell said. “Even if kids don’t see the movie, it’s a good time to remind them to stay away from power lines, substations, or any electric facility.”
Jewell said touching those lines would likely result in severe electric shock or death by electrocution. Jewell said he’s concerned children might re-enact a key scene in which the main character grabs the shoes just as a lighting bolt strikes a nearby power pole. The energized shoes allow him to become a National Basketball Association star. The movie is expected to be popular because it features NBA players and rap artist Lil Bow Wow in the lead role.
Progress Energy has also warned its consumers about the dangers of the scene. Pacific Gas and Electric of California today called on the movie’s distributor, 20th Century Fox, to add clips to the film warning about the dangers of coming in contact with power lines.
Blue Ridge Electric serves more than 64,000 consumers in northwest North Carolina and is part of the state’s Touchstone Energy network of electric utility cooperatives providing electricity and services to 2.4 million people in 93 of the state’s 100 counties.
