Man finishes pie after tree falls on Ute bringing down 11,000 volt powerline in Davidson

A man had a miracle escape after a tree fell on his Ute along with an 11,000 volt powerline during a wild storm. Retired electrician Ian Gurney wasn’t sure what to do – so he calmly ate his lunch.

A man escapes his ute safely after 11,000 volt powerline falls onto his ute. Picture: Jim O'Rourke.

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Retired electrician Ian Gurney had a miracle escape from death or serious injury after a 11,000 volt electric cable landed on his Ute during the height of the violent storm that hit Sydney this afternoon.

Mr Gurney was driving his Mazda BT 50 on Kambora Ave, Davidson, when it was hit by sheets of water and wild winds.

“There was debris everywhere, it was like driving into a waterfall,” he said.

Ian Gurney looks at his damage Ute, after an 11,000 volt powerline fell on it during a storm. Picture: Jim O'Rourke.

“The windscreen went white so I decided to pull up in the middle of the road because I didn’t want to hit anything or anybody.

“Next thing there was a crash and a bang on the roof, I didn’t know what hit me.”

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Mr Gurney took a careful look out of his car window and saw that a thick black cable entangled in a large gumtree branch had landed on the roof of his Mazda.

“There were no sparks so I thought I would be okay,” he said.

“So I just sat there and finished eating my pie.

“There was nowhere else to go.”

Emergency Ausgrid crews access the powerline damage after a cable is brought down on a Ute. Picture: Jim O'Rourke.

Using his knowledge as an electrician Mr Gurney took a decision to make what he described as the “leap of faith”.

“I carefully opened the door and made a jump for it. Everything was fine.

“If there had been sparks, I wouldn’t have got out of the car.

“People came out of the houses to help me, they were really great.

“But two ambulances, two fire brigade three cop cars turned up, but I told him I was okay.

“I think I’m gonna get a bit of a ribbing from my mates about this.”

Trees came down across the peninsula following a wild thunderstorm that unleashed gusts of up to 85km/h at around 1pm.

A man escapes his ute safely after 11,000 volt powerline falls onto his ute. Picture: Jim O'Rourke.

As well as damage to cars and property – including one home in Belrose which saw a tree crush its roof – up to 10,000 homes on the northern beaches lost power.

Ausgrid said Allambie Heights, North Manly, Manly Vale, Beacon Hill, Forestville, Frenchs Forest, Davidson, Belrose, Oxford Falls, Elanora Heights, North Narrabeen, Warriewood, Duffys Forest and Ingleside all lost power.

A spokesman said some homes could see extended outages due to the number of calls.