If your power is on in Agassiz-Harrison, you just might have Finley Fulford, age 6, to thank.
Fulford is not yet a certified power line technician, but he has all the makings of a fine lineman at the young age of six.
BC Hydro told The Observer one of their crews â complete with their signature bucket truck â recently paid a surprise visit to their youngest PLT. B.C. Hydro describes Fulford as âwhip-smartâ and devoted to his craft. He has a long-established reputation with his neighbours, local BC Hydro employees and contractors.
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If you were to ask Fulford when his career started, heâd pinpoint it somewhere around age 3. The first power lines under his watch were made of Mega Bloks, later upgraded to Lego and sticks his granddad found in the yard.
To say Fulford is obsessed with all things BC Hydro would be an understatement. He watches YouTube videos of PLTs at work, keeps up with the news from âPowerlineman Magazineâ and training his two younger siblings â Henry, 4, and Charlotte, two-and-a-half â as his apprentices.
âHenry is quite interested, and thinks he works for BC Hydro,â said Chelsey Fulford, Finleyâs mother. âAnd his sister, who can hardly form a sentence, helps with work on his power lines. She says: âI wook fo bee-cee hy-dwo.ââ
Finley even has his own workout regimen to keep those âlineman musclesâ in top form.
âYou usually hear kids say things like âI want to be a firefighterâ and then itâs âI want to be a policeman⊠then I wanna be a plumber,â Chelsey said. âBut this is different. I really think heâs going to do something with BC Hydro down the road, whether itâs an engineer or a PLT. I think heâs basically waiting for cheques to show up in the mail for all the years of unpaid work heâs done for (BC Hydro) already.â
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As of publication, BC Hydroâs accounts payable department says the cheques have yet to be distributed.
Over the years, Finley has amassed a collection of PLT gear donated by his fans and friends at BC Hydro. He can often be seen in full âuniform,â complete with a hard hat and vest.
Chelsea recalled a time Finley braved the cold to do his solemn duty as a PLT.
âIt was a crappy, rainy day outside and he suddenly comes downstairs and heâs like, âOh, I really donât want to go outside today, I donât want to go to work today â itâs gross and itâs raining â but a lineman has to go to work, no matter the weather,ââ she said. âAnd he trudges outside in the rain to go check on his power lines in the yard, to see if theyâre still standing.â
Finley is home schooled, in part because his parents felt he was so bright heâd be bored by standard education.
âHe doesnât like doing normal schoolwork,â Chelsey said. âHeâll say âWhy canât I just do lineman school instead? Why do I need to do this garbage? How old do I need to be to go to lineman school?â
âItâs the funniest, weirdest, cutest thing,â she added. âJust an absolute obsession.â
adam.louis@ ahobserver.com
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