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#189408 10/07/09 02:27 AM
Joined: Mar 2004
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OreElect #189410 10/07/09 11:01 AM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,294
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The morons that filmed this seem to be quite happy about this tree.

"Better than the 4th of July". "There's like 440,000 volts up there." There's laughter throughout the video.

They apparently didn't call 911 to report the incident, from the statement that "the Fire Department will hear that" (when the arc finally trips the circuit, before the reclosers kick in ) close to the end of the film.

I don't think that their mirth is warranted.


electure #189411 10/07/09 11:41 AM
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 745
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Out of the mouths of idiots...

I'm surprised that some of these brain trusts didn't try to climb the tree to get a better view.

These $#%##$-for-brains are the "future of our country"...?
God help us all.

Mike (mamills)

mamills #189412 10/07/09 01:24 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
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The story accompanying this video - as first posted at www.liveleak.com claims that several calls had been made to 911. When questioned afterwards, the call center claimed that they did not dispatch fire trucks to 'arcing power line' calls, just notified the PoCo. It seems none of the callers actually said "there are flames," so there was no fire department response.

Hopping into the 'wayback' machine, to a time before the fire ... On a calm day I would not have thought the tree was a threat to the lines. I've certainly seen much worse.

I had a service change where my first thought was 'that tree is a problem.' To give you an idea, here is the tree after trimming. Note how close it is to the pole:
[Linked Image from electrical-photos.com]

The trimming crew had to leave one log behind. Note how the tree grew around the guy wire:
[Linked Image from electrical-photos.com]

Finally, cheerfully stolen from another site, here is a pic of an ugly, but safely trimmed tree:
[Linked Image from electrical-photos.com]


renosteinke #189413 10/07/09 01:45 PM
Joined: Jul 2004
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The fire department was not going to get near that until the PoCo verified that the power was off so you might as well sit down and watch the show.
We all sat in a bar on the 2d floor and watched a downed 4100v (13.2?) primary boil all the water out of a puddle in the Keys many years ago and all the GD did was be sure nobody got close. Once the PoCo got there and deenergized it the FD hosed the place down and put out all the shrubs that were burning.
It was more exciting than that tree.
I do agree the PoCo should have trimmed that tree long ago. After Charlie they went around and gave all the trees a pretty good haircut in SW Florida, at least the ones that had not already gone down.


Greg Fretwell
gfretwell #189416 10/07/09 02:28 PM
Joined: Jul 2004
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Nice pictures. I have seen trimming like that but the usual thing here is they simply crop them below the level of the power line so no matter how hard the wind blows it won't hit.
They strongly recommend the tree be removed.
I have a royal palm that is getting too big and I am afraid to screw with it since the roots are also into the underground wiring. I will probably have to kill it and let it rot away.


Greg Fretwell
electure #189422 10/07/09 06:28 PM
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 613
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Originally Posted by electure
The morons that filmed this seem to be quite happy about this tree.

"Better than the 4th of July". "There's like 440,000 volts up there." There's laughter throughout the video.

They apparently didn't call 911 to report the incident, from the statement that "the Fire Department will hear that" (when the arc finally trips the circuit, before the reclosers kick in ) close to the end of the film.

I don't think that their mirth is warranted.



Man that is harsh. They were smart enough not to go over there and get electrocuted and burned too. So a guy videotapes a tree hitting a wire and you call him a moron? Is he a moron for staying back? Is he a moron for not calling the fire department who couldn't do a darn thing about it until the circuit was finally dead? They did comment that there was no property in immediate danger nor people.
I thought it was pretty cool that they taped most of it except for a brief moment where it exploded and they ducked. I heard sirens in the background and possibly they believed the FD was coming.

Frankly I think the fact that they stayed back is good even if they didn't put out the fire and trip out the fault and rescue a cat up the pole.

I just don't see what they needed to do that had to be done right that moment. As long as the power was flowing there was nothing anyone should have done besides watch the fun and stand back.

I am more than eager to hear what you think they could have done to make them appear like not morons.

Your an electrician and I'd love to hear what you would have done that was smarter than standing back or calling 911. Frankly I did not see anything that was a life or death emergency beyond the fire which was not threatening anyone or even property below. I'd say the biggest morons were the tree trimmers and huggers that would prevent those trees from being topped.

OK I will start breathing now.

mikesh #189427 10/07/09 10:02 PM
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Mikesh, there's some merit to what you say. To be fair, though, "Break" didn't post the back-story with the tape, amd edited out some somments when they trimmed it for length.

As for the tree-huggers .... in the tree I showed, 'trimmed' at the 6ft. level .... the city began to get upset that one of the town's precious trees (it was privately owned, on private property) had been removed without going through the mandatory extended hearings, permits, etc. I simply replied that the tree was cut on PoCo instructions, that it posed a danger to the public welfare, and was illegal to begin with. The City actually had to spend a few moments 'considering' this before dropping the matter.
So, yes, the tree-huggers share some of the blame for this reluctance to do necessary trimming. Folks plant and plant and plant - forgetting that these things keep growing.

mikesh #189430 10/07/09 10:56 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,294
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Originally Posted by mikesh
Is he a moron for staying back? Is he a moron for not calling the fire department who couldn't do a darn thing about it until the circuit was finally dead? They did comment that there was no property in immediate danger nor people.



No they're not morons for what they did do.

They're morons for what they didn't do. 911 has a direct line to the PoCo for reporting incidents like this. The FD would have certainly rolled on a tree ablaze, and the police could be called to secure the area.
That's from just 1 call to 911. They never called throughout the taping.

As an electrician, I certainly wouldn't have been laughing throughout the video, would you?





electure #189436 10/08/09 12:29 AM
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From the original news story:

"The Bellingham Fire Department says it got a call of arcing wires and passed that information on to Puget Sound Energy.

Asst. Fire Chief Roger Christensen said the department doesn't typically respond to call of arcing wires unless flames are also reported. In this case, the spokesman said, nobody did."

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