SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. — A Pinellas County man says he is lucky to be alive after a downed power line hit their home, causing explosions, a fire and extensive water damage.
More than 10 weeks later, Nick and Donna Poletis remain out of their home as insurance negotiations continue.
Just after 9 p.m. on July 24, frantic 911 calls began coming in after a power line came down in the couple's neighborhood.
“There was there was three major explosions: pow, pow, and pow,” Nick Poletis told a 911 dispatcher.
Another caller reported the growing danger.
“Oh my God it’s really getting big come one guys let’s go.”
Nick Poletis told dispatchers he could see power lines down behind his home.
“I'm not going out to my back porch because there's power lines laying all over the back,” he said on the 911 call.
Poletis said a large limb came down and took out power lines behind his home.
“I went out on my back porch and looked out, and here there was a power line whipping around like a snake, with sparks coming out of it,” Nick Poletis told Tampa Bay 28 reporter Michael Paluska.
After the explosions stopped, Poletis began inspecting the damage.
“The electrical current popped a hole in our copper piping, right where the water line comes into the house, and that resulted in the flooding,” Nick Poletis said.
Moments later, neighbors alerted him to an even bigger problem.
“As I got out front, all my neighbors were yelling, ‘Nick, your house is on fire!’” he said.
According to a report provided by Safety Harbor Fire Rescue, investigators determined the suspected cause of the fire was contact between a live power line and the home's gutter.
According to the Safety Harbor Fire report, their “investigation led to suspected cause to be the contact between the live power line and the gutter, energizing the house and sparking the fire."
The couple says they have questions for Duke Energy.
“Any help from Duke Energy?” Paluska asked Nick’s wife Donna.
“Not one word,” Donna Poletis said.
Donna Poletis said she and neighbors had previously reported overhanging limbs to Duke Energy but were told the next vegetation management cycle was not scheduled until 2027.
“And so, if it's every five years, that would have been 2022. But she said they came out and trimmed in 25, and absolutely did not. This would not have happened,” Donna Poletis said.
While walking through his backyard Nick Poletis pointed to branches and trees they believe still pose concerns near power lines.
The couple hope to be back in their home before their 40th wedding anniversary.
he date has taken on new significance after they learned how close Nick may have come to tragedy.
“The fire chief had told me, and the fire inspector the next day from the insurance company, I had just gotten out of the shower five minutes before that happened, and he said if I was still in that shower, I would have been electrocuted,” Nick Poletis said.
“You’d be dead?” Paluska asked.
“I’d be dead,” Nick Poeltis responded.
“Donna when you hear this story from your husband, you. Could have been killed and electrocuted.”
“He’s my number one, and I need to make sure that he's okay. And it's just been, it's been a lot of stress,” Donna Poletis said.
Paluska reached out to Duke Energy for an on-camera interview. Tampa Bay 28 received a statement from their media spokesperson stating, “Duke Energy cannot comment on claims investigations. We’ll continue to work with the customer’s insurance company if there are any further questions.”
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