Copper theft sparks flames, blows power

ALDEN, N.Y. (WIVB) - Police say someone risked their life to get their hands on copper by breaking into a power substation in Alden, a theft that left a lot of people without power.

The power was out for about six hours Wednesday morning. A suspect or suspects broke into the substation and cut through the ground wires to steal copper cables. NYSEG says the wire carried 12,000 volts of electricity.

Erie County Sheriff's Chief of Special Services Scott Patronik said, "They're not thinking about what they're doing. They just see the prize being the copper cable. Whether that copper cable is sitting out at the curb or it's attached to some type of electrical device at a substation, they're just going after the copper cable and not weighing what the risk is."

But the copper they took might not even be worth a hundred bucks.

"We've had people who were severely injured; there's been cases around the country where people have been killed stealing cable from electrical devices," said Chief Patronik. "At a high-voltage substation, the risk of electrocution is great. Even at this point, we suspect the person may have been injured in the act of stealing this cable."

Deputies have been investigating several copper thefts in western new York over the last year. Right now, scrap yards are paying a high price for the metal. According to Twin Village Recycling, copper, depending on its condition; goes anywhere from .20 cents to $2.90 a pound.

In April, thieves used a hack saw to cut out hundreds of feet of copper tubing from the former All Saints Roman Catholic School in Riverside. In June, 50 flush valves were stolen from park bathrooms in East Aurora and Orchard Park. And in July, a Buffalo man was arrested for starting a fire at the former Atlech Wire Mill trying to melt stolen copper.

Wednesday's theft is still being investigated. Deputies say they've checked around local hospitals for people with electrical burns.

The fire from the cable cut power to more than 1,400 homes in Alden, Lancaster and Clarence.