At about 3am on Monday, an elderly neighbour called to say all the lights in the area had gone off and asked if I could find out what was going on.

Upon reaching the scene, there was a pole on fire and as a result the power had been shut down to prevent any possible spread in the neighbourhood. The Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service’s four-man crew extinguished the fire and then went on to yet another job.

After rigorous checks and some isolation, the Belco crew was then able to re-energise the line to restore power to Poinciana Road, Green Acres Estate, Poinciana Estate, Chaingate Hill and a few other areas.

All this was done before most people knew there had been both a fire and power outage. In the words of one resident: “I woke up and realised the power had gone out for a few hours.”

The moral of this short story is this: while being out of power during the summer can be frustrating and inconvenient, please bear these things in mind:

• Disaster has been averted

• Fellow Bermudians are up at all “weird” hours putting their lives on the line with both fire and high-voltage electricity to make sure you are safe and have power

Thank you to all who put it all on the line for our island over the past week.

• Christopher Famous is the government MP for Devonshire East (Constituency 11). You can reach him on WhatsApp at 599-0901 or e-mail at carib_pro@yahoo.com