Warning - treat all power wires as live

Any fallen power wire should always be treated as live until proven otherwise, the general manager of Electricity Ashburton says.

His comments come after the tragic death of a North Canterbury man who was electrocuted on a rural North Canterbury property at the weekend.

Brendan Walker, 39, died and his wife Sarah is in a comfortable condition in hospital with burns to her feet and hands after going to his aid, while the couple's seven-year-old son Ethan is being hailed a hero after running back to the house to raise the alarm.

The incident was triggered by a small fire which burnt through the power pole and released the bracket which held the insulators, which were attached to the wire.

The insulator and bracket fell and dragged the power line down to about a metre off the ground.

Mr Walker was checking on cattle on Saturday morning when he saw three cattle lying in a paddock.

He drove his quad bike over to get a closer look and appeared to have driven into the same power line which killed the cows, and was electrocuted.

Electricity Ashburton general manager Gordon Guthrie said fires did occur on power poles from time to time, when insulators broke for whatever reason.

Generally if a power wire touched the ground, it would short out. But in this case the wire did not appear to have hit the ground so had remained live.

Mr Guthrie said power wires should always be treated with extreme caution.

"You should treat every wire as live," he said.

"These things can happen and you've just got to be aware of it."

Any downed power wires should be reported to authorities immediately.

It's believed the fallen power line which killed Mr Walker was carrying more than 1000 volts.

Mrs Walker and her son came across the scene when they left the house to check their letterbox. She was shocked by the power line while trying to help her dead husband but Ethan escaped injuries, police constable John Eagle said.
Power to the line was cut off directly after the incident, but had since been repaired by MainPower.

MainPower manager Peter Hurford said the company declined to comment on the incident until they had spoken to police.
In 2009, Mid Canterbury husband and wife Lionel and Shirley Donaldson were killed on their Mayfield farm after an auger hit overhead power lines in their farm yard.

A coroner's inquest found that Mrs Donaldson may also have been going to her husband's aid when she too was electrocuted.

Mr Guthrie said machinery like augers and irrigators hitting power lines did happen from time to time in Mid Canterbury and people should always be aware of overhead lines.