MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – After Hurricane Irma in 2017, Antonio Pitre noticed there were at least three precariously posititioned utility poles at his neighborhood in Southwest Miami-Dade County that were potentially deadly.
Pitre said the utility poles that are outside of his home, near the corner of Southwest 168th Street and 122nd Avenue, near Zoo Miami are totally rotted.
Pitre reported the matter to AT&T, but they haven't solved the problem. He has seen the wind sway a teetering utility pole back and forth and has felt fear.
"If that cable snaps, that's it! Whoever is passing buy is going to be crushed in their car," Pitre said.
Pitre believes that if the poles cause someone's death or injury it will be because of the their negligence. He used spray paint to mark all of the poles that he noticed were damaged. He said AT&T replaced only one of the three poles.
AT&T claims it has been working with Florida Power & Light to transfer its equipment and the process takes time. An AT&T representative said they plan to remove the poles.
"Everybody waits on everybody else around here and nothing gets done," Pitre said.
Just days after Local 10 News' Leave It To Layron contacted AT&T with Pitre's concern, the company took some action saying they asked FPL to expedite the removal of the equipment. But the job has yet to be completed.
"I hope they take the other ones out too, the ones that are snapped in front of my house and in front of the neighbor's house," Pitre said.
According to AT&T, there is one more pole pending and there is a service ticket has been issued for that work. Once that's done, it will be up to AT&T to remove the old poles.