Lights out for Nelson's free porchlight program

The City of Nelson has passed a new bylaw to protect it's citizens from a potentially deadly hazard.

Their porch lights.

Back in the early 1900's the city implemented a program that let homeowners run their porch lights free of charge. They were wired separately from the rest of the home... and turned out to be a system that could also be adapted for other uses.

It wasn't uncommon for homeowners and their kids to get creative and try to tap the light socket for free power.
   
Author Kenneth Morrow grew up in the area during the depression and wrote a book about it. His autobiography, A Boyhood in Nelson, describes just how useful he and his brother Bob found the free porch light service to be.

In this segment, Daybreak host Chris Walker reads an excerpt from the book, where Ken describes the finishing touches made to their home made hockey rink.

Then, he speaks with Nelson mayor John Dooley who says the city's quite concerned about the estimated 180 porch lights running on the old system, and explains how they're trying to figure out a way to fix them.