Cool example, Joe.
Following on Bjarney's comment about fallen overhead conductors. . .I once came upon a PoCo line crew repairing a 13.8 kV 3Ø line after one phase had dropped to the sand and gravel along the edge of the alley. The line laid on the ground and "burned" and hopped around and shortened itself leaving a dashed line of fulgurite holes in the sand and gravel. One was long and large enough to stick my hand down into. It was still warm.
Think of this. . .If the ground resistance in the arc is one Ohm, and only 100 amps flows, and the voltage to ground is 8,000 volts, the area in the arc has
0.8 MegaWatts dumped into it! ![[Linked Image]](https://www.electrical-contractor.net/ubb/eek.gif)
![[Linked Image]](https://www.electrical-contractor.net/ubb/biggrin.gif)
