Giant reel of wire weighing more than 2,000 pounds stolen near Fort Macleod

Mounties investigating second such theft at same Fortis job site in week

Image | Fort Macleod wire theft casing

Caption: The stolen underground wire is encased in black plastic with red stripes. Mounties say a giant reel of the cable weighing more than 900 kilograms was stolen on Feb. 8 from a Fortis job site north of Fort Macleod. (RCMP)

Thieves somehow stole a wire reel that weighed more than 900 kilograms from a job site in southern Alberta community.
The reel was stolen last week from a Fortis job site just north of Fort Macleod, RCMP said in a release Tuesday.
Somehow, the wooden reel — which was more than 1.6 metres wide — was dragged across the highway and transported from the scene, RCMP said.
Fortis reported the theft Thursday morning. Investigators say it went missing sometime after 8 p.m. the previous evening.
The crew was working on a project at Highway 811 and Township Road 93.
The 750 MCM wire is encased in black plastic with red stripes.

Image | Fort Macleod wire theft

Caption: A cross-section of underground cable, seen from the end. (RCMP)

Thieves often target such wire for the copper, which is currently selling for $3.12 US ($3.95 Cdn) a pound.
The Fort Macleod Mounties say this was the second wire theft from the same worksite this month.
In the first instance, 90 metres of primary underground cable was cut and removed.
Anyone with information about these crimes can call the Fort Macleod RCMP at 403-553-7200 or contact Crime Stoppers(external link) anonymously.
Fort Macleod is about 170 kilometres south of Calgary.