Copper wire being stolen on Manitoba farms

Thieves in Manitoba are risking their lives by stealing copper wire from irrigation pivots at farms in the Carberry area, RCMP warned on Wednesday.

Between May 20 and Aug. 25, six farms in the area have had $40,000 worth of already-installed high-voltage copper wire stolen from the machines, police said.

The thieves access the rubber-wrapped wire on the pivots and cut it off in lengths of about 15 metres, according to police.

RCMP are speculating that the wire is then taken somewhere where the rubber casing is melted off and then sold at a scrapyard.

An irrigation pivot is a device on wheels that has nozzles allowing farmers to water their fields. Typically, one is placed in the centre of a field and it twirls in a circle.

The wire thefts are extremely dangerous and the thieves are risking death or severe injury, police said.

Anyone with information about the thefts is asked to call the Carberry RCMP at 204-834-2905 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Carberry is located about 150 kilometres west of Winnipeg.