RF Towers Continue to Tumble

MAPLETON, ONTARIO, CANADA: A 120-foot self-supporting communications tower in Canada toppled over just a few days after vandals felled two radio towers near Seattle. Authorities found the tower had been cut into. The Wellington County Police report said that officers responded to the call Sept. 12 at 8 a.m.

“Police investigators found that at about 1:45 a.m. on Saturday Sept. 12, 2009 communications coming from the wireless tower, owned by Everest [sic] Communications of Waterloo, had ceased,” the blotter stated. (The company is actually “Everus.”) “Officials arrived at work in the morning with Everest Communications had detected the problem. Workers tried to correct this problem, searching for the cause and eventually attending to this property and found the tower lying on the ground.

“County of Wellington OPP were notified and attended to the property, to determine that the steel structure had been cut near the base causing the tower to collapse. Damage to the tower is estimated to be about $100,000.00.”

The investigation continues, the report said.

Wireless Estimator reported the incident, saying it “knocked out Internet service to more than 7,000 people in Wellington County.” (The story is a few scrolls into the site’s Breaking News page.)

Two RF towers near Seattle were destroyed Sept. 4 by radical environmental activists, who left a banner at the site taking credit for the act. Two other towers fell the same day--one in Allentown, Pa., and another in Deland, Fla. Guy wires were reportedly cut the Allentown; the Deland tower fell after a guy wire was snagged by a truck leaving a high school football game. No injuries were reported in either case. All four U.S. towers served radio stations.

More on the recent tower vandalism:
September 8, 2009: “RF Towers Toppled in Washington”
Two radio towers near Seattle were felled Friday afternoon by radical environmentalists. Both towers belonged to KRKO-AM, a Bonneville station. Radio World said both were relatively new and “part of a plan to expand the station’s signal.” The towers were 149 and 439 feet tall.