Police ask for tree to be felled

Police have asked that the tree in which a 10-year-old Auckland boy received a massive electric shock after he touched power lines be felled.

The boy was reported to be in a stable condition in intensive care at Middlemore Hospital today after suffering severe arm and chest burns, and losing some fingers after touching the line in the West Auckland suburb of Te Atatu yesterday.

A police spokeswoman said today officers were looking into how the incident occurred.

Preliminary inquiries suggested the boy had climbed a tree that stood adjacent to a power pole, then climbed on to the transformer platform and touched one of the power lines.

Police believed the only way to prevent further injury was to fell the tree and had asked Auckland electricity distributor Vector and the local council to do so as soon as possible, she said.

A decision on whether an organisation or person was culpable and whether they would lay charges would be "some time away", she said.

One witness at the site today said the top of the tree didn't reach the power lines, but went about two-thirds up the pole to a maintenance platform.

From there, the boy would have clambered to the top.

Angry Paton Ave residents have complained that the tree should have been cut down months ago, saying they had alerted Waitakere City Council earlier this year about it being close to the pole.

Waitakere City Council and Vector today both denied they were responsible for maintaining trees away from power lines.

Vector spokeswoman Charlene White said the company was in the early stages of investigating what had happened yesterday.

She could not comment in detail until a report was completed "in the next day or so".

Vector spent $3 million a year on proactive tree-trimming and maintenance, and worked with local councils to clear branches from near power lines, she said.

But she added: "In terms of legally where it stands, it's up to the property owner -- whether it's private property or council land -- to maintain those trees."

However, Waitakere City spokesman Wally Thomas said legal advice to the council was that it was the responsibility of power companies to trim trees.

"While it's our tree, they are responsible for ensuring that it doesn't touch the power lines or that people cannot have access to them," he said.

Mr Thomas also said Vector's predecessor, United Networks Ltd, had stated its policy on tree maintenance when applying for a resource consent.

The policy was "to monitor the separation of vegetation from network assets and to maintain it at a distance".

"We said to Vector today that we're happy to provide staff to work with them to identify any other hazards that there may be around the city," Mr Thomas said.

"But ultimately they are the ones who are out on the site looking at the tree now."

Ms White said overhead power lines could deliver a shock of about 11,000 volts.

- NZPA