13-2 , don't mess with it !

[Riggs]

13-2 , don\'t mess with it !

Our Fire Co. responded to an unconsious man in a tree 7/2/01 . The guy lowered a Sycamore limb right onto a Live , Bare 13-2 line . The limb caught fire , the BOSS went 5 miles up the road to purchase a fiberglass pole to get the limb off the hot wire . Meanwhile the 31 yr. old climber who used to be a groundman for my Dad's bussiness , decided to cut the limb loose from the wires . That decision cost him his life .

Makes me want to throw up , A bucket would have ripped that tree apart in two hours . Anyone with sense would have bailed out of the tree as soon as it came in contact and caught on fire !

 

[BigJon]

Re: 13-2 , don\'t mess with it !

Did they not have any wooden poles on the truck? I have delt with 7,13.2,34,69KV all with wooden poles. I am still here to talk about it. I was always told the only thing to put on a wooden pole was sandpaper. A good clean dry wooden pole is safe to use in this situation. I was once sent out on an emergancy job to clear a poplar that was on fire and burning on 13.2 line. It can be done.

 

[Riggs]

Re: 13-2 , don\'t mess with it !

Whose emergency was it ? One switch turns the power off , maybe two phone calls . This guy who died had his spurs dug in the tree , reached out with his saw and became the ground . What would you do if the wire broke while you were "playing" with it ,and it fell next to you ?

 

[BigJon]

Re: 13-2 , don\'t mess with it !

The emergency was an Asplundh job. These were situations we were trained to deal with. It more than just a phone call for us to get shut off. Electricity always takes the shortest path to ground. The tree is the only path to ground and never come between the two. I can recall once standing between a thrirteen two two phase notching a top out of a pin oak and throwing it over the the one phase. I asked for the outage but they said not necessary. And if I wanted to raise this is what I needed to be able to do.

 

[Gerald_Beranek]

Re: 13-2 , don\'t mess with it !

BigJon, I've had some bad experiences mixing wooden poles with high voltage. That was all one company supplied the crews with. As you said, "Clean and dry they worked for me." Some days that wasn't the case and you couldn't hold on to that stick for very long. 6 foot minimum clearence required for 12KV distribution. That required clearence was a figment of someones imagination. Because I never seen it in 18 years of line clearence work. If it wasn't burning it didn't need trimming. Rope,stick work and smokin trees. Shut downs? The company frowned if you asked for one. Though the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG@E)would give us rubber to work between phases. How nice of them. Really,it was insane. When I think back about it I shake my head and wonder how no one ever got killed on those crews. I will say, we were savy with it. It's the only reason we got home for dinner everynight. Seen lots of fireworks and even had the honor to knock down the high voltage distribution a few times. Permission granted of course.
Of the fatalities from electrocution in my area the overwhelming majority involved private tree workers who lacked electrical hazard training. I have a hard time understanding how that could be, but it is an unforunate fact.
Fiberglass pruner poles today and a whole new awareness for safety bennifits the modern line clearence trimmer.