I would have wanted to be around to hear what the P&L guys had to say when they came to replace the popped breaker at the pole. In my neighborhood, this would have prompted a Call To Other Authorities For A Remedial Discussion And Maybe Some Educational Materials.
I have been in the vicinity for a couple of these. In one case, the cluelessness of the perp was deemed egregious enough that the service cable to his house was disconnected at the pole, pending a visit from code enforcement to inspect all of the wiring. In the other case, the tree trimmer whose cherry picker had fouled a 150kV line at the top of the pole was cited, and required to cease work pending an OSHA review of their training status. Power companies do not have a sense of humor about this sort of thing.
@werehatrack There are a lot of places that should have a better sense of humor, but I fully support power companies’ rights to not have a sense of humor about these things.
(also surgeons, miners, and snake milkers)
@blaineg The boom of the cherrypicker fouled the line; the operator was perfectly safe in the basket, and the outriggers had the chassis firmly grounded. Even someone leaning against the truck would have been safe enough. I doubt that the arc messed up the hydraulics given the point of contact on the arm.
@blaineg I had to deal with some of the fallout from an event like that. The docs from the various people who were there, and the writeups of the investigation, demonstrated that the usual rule was fully in force. Bringing about the grisly result took a perfect alignment of correctly timed errors by multiple parties. There was no single mistake that was crucial, they all were.
I’m surprised that the bolt cutters are intact.
Many, many moons ago, I worked in a facility with a very sizeable electric draw. Maintenance had been scheduled to reroute some electrical feeds and panels while we were working. (I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.) Apparently there was some confusion about which of the lines needed to be cut and which were still live.
Hilarity ensued. At least hilarity in the sense that the electrical technician wasn’t seriously hurt. The bang from about 20 yards away was deafening. Rumor had it that the cutters were vaporized in the explosion, as they were rated for something less than the tens of thousands of Amps in the circuit they completed.
@mehcuda67 It appears that they were trying to sever the feed and conduit in one go. It’s possible that the jaws merely pinched the insulation open inside the smashed pipe. Much depends upon how much load the circuit was rated to deliver.
I would have wanted to be around to hear what the P&L guys had to say when they came to replace the popped breaker at the pole. In my neighborhood, this would have prompted a Call To Other Authorities For A Remedial Discussion And Maybe Some Educational Materials.
I have been in the vicinity for a couple of these. In one case, the cluelessness of the perp was deemed egregious enough that the service cable to his house was disconnected at the pole, pending a visit from code enforcement to inspect all of the wiring. In the other case, the tree trimmer whose cherry picker had fouled a 150kV line at the top of the pole was cited, and required to cease work pending an OSHA review of their training status. Power companies do not have a sense of humor about this sort of thing.
@werehatrack There are a lot of places that should have a better sense of humor, but I fully support power companies’ rights to not have a sense of humor about these things.
(also surgeons, miners, and snake milkers)
@werehatrack Oof! 150kV? No fatalities?
@blaineg The boom of the cherrypicker fouled the line; the operator was perfectly safe in the basket, and the outriggers had the chassis firmly grounded. Even someone leaning against the truck would have been safe enough. I doubt that the arc messed up the hydraulics given the point of contact on the arm.
@werehatrack Yeah, the electrician we had told us about one house where someone used extension cords in the walls for wiring.
@werehatrack Glad to hear it. I was imagining the operator making contact, or getting close enough it makes no difference.
@blaineg I had to deal with some of the fallout from an event like that. The docs from the various people who were there, and the writeups of the investigation, demonstrated that the usual rule was fully in force. Bringing about the grisly result took a perfect alignment of correctly timed errors by multiple parties. There was no single mistake that was crucial, they all were.
I’m sure they thought:
“Hey, no sweat… the meter is pulled so it must not be a charged line, right???”
I’m surprised that the bolt cutters are intact.
Many, many moons ago, I worked in a facility with a very sizeable electric draw. Maintenance had been scheduled to reroute some electrical feeds and panels while we were working. (I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.) Apparently there was some confusion about which of the lines needed to be cut and which were still live.
Hilarity ensued. At least hilarity in the sense that the electrical technician wasn’t seriously hurt. The bang from about 20 yards away was deafening. Rumor had it that the cutters were vaporized in the explosion, as they were rated for something less than the tens of thousands of Amps in the circuit they completed.
@mehcuda67 It appears that they were trying to sever the feed and conduit in one go. It’s possible that the jaws merely pinched the insulation open inside the smashed pipe. Much depends upon how much load the circuit was rated to deliver.