"Take the walk I didn't."

Dear Editor:

On June 26, my son Shawn was killed. He climbed a 12-foot-high fence, rimmed with barbed wire, protecting six transformers at the end of a rather dilapidated, partially-abandoned, B.C. Hydro power house in Brentwood Bay, jumped onto the transformer platform, and was electrocuted.

The general impression in our neighbourhood was that the power station was abandoned. Some even thought it was an abandoned cement plant. My children were both told to stay out of the building. Unfortunately, I never checked that abandoned building. I should have. I would have immediately recognized there was high-voltage electric power entering that building. As a manager who has completed many safety inspections of industrial sites, I would also have noticed a lack of warning signs.

There are no signs at the entry gate, which has an open walkway. There are no signs on the fence my son climbed. There are only a couple of old signs on the dilapidated building. My children would have been told, not just to stay out of the building, but to stay completely off the premises. I believe I would have expressed my concern to B.C. Hydro. My son would be alive today - if I had only taken that walk.

It is too late for Shawn, but I plead to all parents: please check out the potential hazards in your community. Take the walk I didn't. Don't simply assume, as I did, that the powerhouse was abandoned. Look around, and ask for proper warning signs to be posted if you feel they are needed. You may save someone else from going through my agony as I write this letter, at my son's desk in his empty bedroom.

Was my son wrong? Probably, but he was an inquisitive 14-year-old boy exploring an abandoned power station. He followed my instructions, he did not enter the building, but simply climbed on an unmarked fence to explore some old transformers.

Was I negligent? As a grieving parent, I certainly believe so now. I should have taken that walk.

Was B.C. Hydro negligent? Well, the fence was there and there were high-voltage signs on the centre transformer in each of the two banks. But there were no warning signs on the entrance gate, nor the road access, nor the fence my son climbed. The building is run down and looks abandoned. None of the exterior lights is in working condition; many of the light fixtures are broken; one is swinging loose on its wire; on another, the fixture is gone and two bare wires are dangling well within easy reach of an inquisitive child; the state of disrepair indicates abandonment.

There is nothing signifying even a part of the building was being used. Oh yes, there was a buzz in the air. To me that indicated high voltage. To the boys? It sounds just like the hum in my backyard from an electric pump; hardly lethal. Besides, the power station is beside a marina. I am sure any boat motor would hide the buzz.

What does B.C. Hydro say? I don't know; no one has officially spoken to me. I expressed my concerns to several Hydro supervisors who were examining the death site, when I finally took my walk. One said he thought the security was adequate.

Please, parents, take the walk in your neighborhood - now.