Some time ago, there was a firm in Chicago by the name of Gerson Electric. They were an old line firm that was part of the tri-venture that wired the Sears Tower. They were prime electrical on this job where we had a small part. They used to get large rolling safes. I mean these used to be just about if not just over 6' tall. They would have the crew horse them into the basement into their shop on the job, behind as strong a set of doors as they could. Only the foreman knew the combination. I guess that they had been burned a number of times before.
In another instance, we were called to restore power to a 400 amp 480 volt feeder in a section of the old Western Electric Hawthorne Works in Cicero Illinois. It had long since closed, and most of the property was converted into retail. But there was still this one old manufacturing building; it too abandonded. It was magnificent! It had the hardest concrete floors in places, and in some, the floor was lined with cork "bricks" I think they made wire & cable there. Anyway, at one time the powerhose, [also gone at the time] fed this building at 12 kV. Only the 480 portion of the unit-sub as left. As the person on site explained, theives were trying to strip out the remaining aluminum MC cable that ran on cable tray throughout the building, serving what few loads had to remain. Problem is they did it live, [ I'm serious]. They blew the fuse in their first attempt. We replaced the fuse and went on our merry way. Two days later, we got a call to come and replace the fuse again, the theives had returned.
When we got back, the place was a mess. The way the story was related to me was that the theived returned. The guard on duty noticed the truck and then noticed the lights go out in the building. He called the cops. Apparently the theives disconnected the leeder from the buss detail, again, live, using channel locks, and a hacksaw. Problem was these were recessed hex socket screws on the lugs. And they didn't blow the fuse this time! They hooked up a piece of 1/8" aircraft wire to the cable and the other end to the bumper on their truck. They were dragging it off of the tray by driving around the interior of the building. About this time, the cops showed up. The theives took off in their truck, and luckily the aircraft able broke. They ramed through some doors, and led the police on a short car chase. They were eventually nabbed, and, I'm told, tuned up on the way to jail. Cicero was kinda' a rough town, once home to Al Capone.
[This message has been edited by airportelectrician (edited 02-01-2003).]
