BOZEMAN — What keeps the power on? It's the men and women who put their lives on the line—sometimes 100 feet in the air.
Cole Boss has been a lineman for over 18 years. He started his career in Washington and moved to Montana to keep chasing the thrill.
"It's after hours, it's at night, it's on holidays. It's when you have a vacation planned. And everybody wants power, and they look to us, and that's our job. It's what we signed up for," Boss says.
He says the job entails more than climbing power lines.
"We do what some carpenters do. We do what some iron workers do. We do what welders do. We do what some ditch diggers do. And on top of that, there's a lot of line work and electricity involved," Boss says.
He says danger is a part of the job, but it also has him thinking.
"My son has mentioned that he is going to be a lineman like me, which is good, but I started thinking about things I never did in my early twenties," Boss says.
He's seen danger firsthand at many points throughout his career.
"You know, catching equipment on fire, had some explosions, and seen a few guys get hurt over the years, which isn't good," Boss says.
He reflects on the recent death of 28-year-old Lucas Fowler, a lineman for the Sun River cooperative, who died on Friday, Aug. 9.
Fowler was working on a single-phase power line south of Conrad when the pole toppled over, taking his life.
Fourteen of the 25 cooperatives—member-owned, member-run non-profit utilities in the state—drove to Sun River to honor him.
They included:
Beartooth Electric Cooperative; Big Horn County Electric Cooperative; Fergus Electric Cooperative; Glacier Electric Cooperative; Lincoln Electric Cooperative; Marias River Electric Cooperative; NorVal Electric Cooperative; Park Electric Cooperative; Ravalli Electric Cooperative; Sheridan Electric Cooperative; Sun River Electric Cooperative; Vigilante Electric Cooperative; Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative
And even NorthWestern Energy, although the company is not a part of the cooperatives.
"We have a tight brotherhood. Not just statewide, but it goes nationwide. When something like that happens, the family gets together. Linemen get together, and we will do what we can for the crews and family involved," Boss says.
Ryan Hall, the communications director of Montana Cooperative Electric Association, quotes a lineman who honored Fowler in Sun River.
"He said, 'Linemen across the country are a brotherhood; in Montana, it's a family,'" Hall says.
He saw the brotherhood in full force last Saturday.
"They stood by their trucks and waited because they wanted to be there when that first car went through. So, they stood out in the heat, standing in a field where these trucks were parked on the other side of the road. So that they could stand there with their hard hats over their hearts. It was special for everyone there," Hall says.
Boss says moments like these bring him back to the reality of the job.
"Not just myself. It brings everybody back to earth a little bit. You are not invincible, so think about the simple things and play it safe," Boss says.
At the end of the day, he loves his job.
"Yup, and we are proud to do it."
