power lines

Phil T.

is there anyway to check if a wire down is live? Or is there anyway to tell if its a power line or cable or phone?

Parkpiggy

Probies?

J/K

Ben E.

Hotstick

David B.

ems60

All lines are live until the power company gets there and says their not.

Station 3

Do me a favor and please dont do anything just wait for your local electricity company to get on scene. You dont want to die for no reason just wait for them to get there and do thier job. Every year our local power company puts on a little show where they fry a hot dog wiener with like a gazzilian volts just to prove a point that firefighters arnt electricians and for them not to get close to the power lines when at a scene. Shocked

usdemt

Warning hijack in progress!

We have in very limited instances pulled the meter off of a house that has a working fire we are putting water on. In all intances it was a general electrcian that pulled the meter. The only reason it was done was because we have one power guy in our area to do it, and besides crappy cell service he could be 20 minutes away on a daily basis. Evertime we get chewed out but I would rather have a guy who knew what he was doing pull the meter without permission than be on the nozzle while you hit a 220 outlet, or the box itself. Any deptartments out there do that in emrgency situations?

Jasonc

Phil T.

Phil T.

bobcoop06

Phil T.

mfaith91

Uhm..... I'm going to put my Helmet on for just a second..... Twisted Evil

Just send in the Cop-O-Meter....

Very Happy

Phil T.

Ben E.

I would be willing to bet, if I was a betting man, that the power company probably WOULD help you with the costs of a Hotstick. When I was a high-voltage electrical technician, we used them exclusively to verify our shutdowns on busses after lockout/tagouts. Never once had a mishap.

car54

Robert W.

Love the hotsticks.. we have 2... but..

Always assume a down line is live, even if you are convinced it is for communications purposes. If you are on a fireground and see a down lined, just take the time to find a way around that. Otherwise, get your hot stick, but remember it is electronic too and it needs to have power, so it could give false readings as well.

ems60

Maybe the cable guys can jump in here, but I recall seeing that some of the cable lines can carry 80-90 volts and the fiber optic lines can cause eye damage if you look in the end. Just stay away from the wires, you never know.

mfaith91

Ben E.

ems60

I wasn't thread jacking, he asked how to tell if they were power, cable or phone. I was just saying just because they aren't lines from the electric company, doesn't mean they don't have power in them. Some people assume that because they aren't electric means they are safe to touch.

Phil T.

well the main reason why I ask is because when we had a storm roll through we had most our rigs tied up on a wires down calls, and the wait for the elec company was hours. Obviously we cant tie up all our rigs for hours on babysitting a wire laying across the road. The one I was on one of our ff is a electrician, and determined it was a phone wire, so he picked it up and moved it off the road Shocked

. We were able to leave once the road was cleared.

Mike F

stfd717 · Regular Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 90 Location: Topeka, KS

Depending on the utility company will tell you how far you can go. Our FD had one donated by electric co - I think they also gave us a price break on another when we purchased for our other engine. Of course we have a very good rep with our electric comapny. The gas company is in the process of completing a Nat Gas prop field on our training ground for multi-agency training (FD, Gas co, local fire brigade) with no cost to FD or FB because they helped fund and build the site - we are getting a $100k field for about 20k). The Gas Co also donated some grass helmets and goggles for the work put into the field. A few years ago they also donated some CO detectors - They have been great! The better you work with them the more you "might get."

The worst that can happen when you ask is they can tell you "no" - but i'll bet they will not do that if you ask nicely. Smile

C.

EVS1

The problem with hotsticks and power lines is that a power line that checks "dead" now, can come back on without you knowing it. The power distribution systems have fuses on the poles, but they also have automatic reset breakers in the substations. They also can shunt power from another part of the system,(another direction) which will re-energize the wires without you knowing it. Hotsticks are fine in industrial applications where the system is tightly controlled, but they have no business on a firetruck.
The best thing to do is barricade the wires and stay away from them. Let the power company do their job and we'll do ours.

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