As for our local Fire dept., they also cut the drip loops. They use a "Hot Stick" with a cutter on it that looks like a tree pruner. It is a fairly common Lineman tool.
http://www.whitesafetyline.com/products/cutters.html They'll also open underground boxes, and cut of the whole neiborhood.
Most utilities don't use fuses on tranformers. They'll use the Transformer itself, at 65KVA @ 10 - 22,000 AIC! It's failure point! 44,000 or more for Commercial. It's not a very good idea, but a common pratice.
Back to the featured fire though. I think the newer looking conduit, the one with no connector on it, dropped through and hit the mains. If so, there wasn't anything to trip, just burn!
