Lineman responding to Fires
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 26 май 2023
- Hey Everyone!
It's not usually appropriate to gather footage at fire calls, especially if someone gets hurt. In this video, everyone got out safely.
I also don't usually roll the camera while working during fire calls out of respect for the first responders and other people involved but I did get a few shots and wanted to explain how and why we respond.
Be safe out there everyone! 👊🍻
***
Keep in mind my videos are to be used as guidelines only!
There are many different ways to preform the tasks shown in this videos.
Always adhere to your own company's policies and procedures.
This work should only be preformed only by those whom are both trained and authorized to do so! ***
Huge thanks to my Patreons! 👊👊
➡ / bobsdecline
#bobsdecline #Milwaukeetools #lineman
I feel like you strike a great balance between respecting other first responders/accident victims and showing what your job consists of. Well done.
I try to focus on exactly that... I appreciate the comment very much 🍻🤝
Responded to a traffic accident years ago with the vehicle on fire directly under the pole line. The 200 pair phone cable was fused together and the AAAC primary conductors were melting and sagging down. All the bad elements a person trapped in the vehicle and live primary about to come down. Fortunately Central Maine Power killed the sub and remote grounded the circuit so we could proceed to extricate. Cooperation and communications between emergency responders of all types is essential!
How quickly did they make a decision to dump a whole sub rather than wait for a lineman to just cut a smaller section out?
One thing we had going for us was I was a consultant engineer to CMP and had a CMP radio so I could talk directly to the load center. No argument and they acted within a minute of the request. CMP is great when dealing with life safety requests.
@@robertstone4164 cmp is Greedy power company not one but two rate hikes in the last year i hope the citizen power company idea takes off they say the company is going green but rode by a lift truck no one in it engine ldileing away for hours
@@apctech1 My comment was how well they worked with first responders not defending the rate structure and inaccurate metering. CMP rates, metering errors and the taxes were the reason we moved from Maine so I am sympathetic to the citizen power concept.
You do play an important role with firefighters and first responders. Teamwork at its best. Thank you for educating folks about keeping safe around powerlines. It's not always something people are aware of. Please stay safe, and God bless.
I don’t think people need educating on power lines it’s manly common sense but if u lack it than that’s on them u can’t fix stupid
We live in your area, see you going all the time, Great videos, 👍🏻🇨🇦🤟🏻
Oh nice! Stop by n chat sometime 🤝👊
I was a volunteer firefighter for 32+ years. It was SOP that dispatcher notified the electric co. whenever we had a structure fire. We've also responded to downed lines and were taught to always consider them hot unless told different by the electric company. When I first started we would pull meters on house fires, but were later told not to because removing the meter might not kill the whole house and there was also the danger of an arc. I can also tell you that firefighter gloves were NOT insulated.
Bob you inspire me to become a lineman. I'm 29 year old bridge painter and feel as if I'm too old to switch careers.
I didn't start my apprenticeship until I was 29, so you're not too old. Fear of heights will wash out many, but as a bridge painter, I don't think that will be an issue with you. The other thing that will wash out apprentices is working hot. If you learn and follow all the safety rules, you should be fine
29 is definitely not too old! Have worked with many guys that started their career in their 30/40's
@@Bobsdecline Wow. Thank you
@@rubroken I used to paint high voltage towers with car wash mitts and galvanized silver before making a switch into the painters union. I'm tired spending my days wearing a blast hood and thoroughly enjoy the analytical problem solving and manual labor. Education in general is something that enjoy I enjoy a lot. Would love to climb high steel once again.
@@art-tb3um As a lineman, you never stop learning. I encouraged my brother(a postal carrier)to become a groundman(electrical craft helper in my utility), but he had too many years invested in the post office. He regrets, now, not changing over. Your call, either way you go, don't regret your choice. I loved what I did...no regrets there
My grandfather on my mom’s side was electrocuted by 7200 volts. Just about this same situation as here. It happened years before I was born, but the story I was told was that a line was down and he tried using a stick to move it, killing him instantly. He didn’t understand the danger of what he was dealing with!
A friend witnessed all four tires explode when a high voltage wire fell across a truck during a storm. Even house current and voltages should NOT be messed with unless you have the understanding of what needs to be done and how to safety accomplish the task.
You are right in pleading with people to stay away from downed lines.
You guys spend years learning the proper way to handle high voltage and stay alive. I’m sure there are many, many follow up classes linemen take throughout their careers as well. As a journeyman electrician who also taught electricity at the college level, I feel I have a pretty good understanding of the subject.
The main thing I have learned dealing with electricity since 1974, is to stay the hell away from high voltage!!
Be safe out there everyone!!
I'm reminded being told by my firefighter coworker who dealt with car crash scene that turned into downed rural wire. Would have been similar to this >10kv line...and how while they were on scene it was some absurd distance like a 1/4 mile away that the barbed wire fence had been energized, and every fence post as they drove up to the scene was full angry spitsparken. Power lines do not act like wall plugs and people assume it's safe if it's not dancing around like an angry snake in the movies. Thanks for this great example of how a seemingly 'dead' line could quickly become a bad day.
Those miscommunications are frustrating to EVERYONE.
Bigtime! It sometimes happens with customers calling in for an issue at their cottage in another jurisdiction.
This is the first time it's happened to me with a fire
I guess there will be a review as to how to do things better.
I wish I had linemen like you where I live. If theres ever a call like a fire, mva, hanging power lines, etc overnight it usually takes a solid two hours sometimes more to get a lineman to the scene and typically show up unhappy that we called them out of bed to do their job. This guy was getting ready before the call even went out, kudos to you sir.
Great tip to just stay back. It's easy to forget objects far from the issue, like the other end of that guardrail, can be energized.
Exactly 💯👊
I was about to mention that, too. Even if that rail wasn't held up by wood, you could still get a nasty surprise from any point if a primary fell on it. (electricity follows _every_ path to ground, not just the best one. If you drill a 2" hole and 1" hole in your pool, _water will flow out of both of them_ )
@@jfbeam It doesn't help that its often parroted that electricity takes the easiest path to ground, rather than specifying that's merely the majority of the current and whilever its below the current limit of any beakers further up - its going to find ANY path and it doesn't take much to kill you.
Its also far from common knowledge how a downed line can hurt you if your left and right legs are at different potential, even while the line itself is directly ON ground. Not sure if it was this channel where I learned of that myself. This sort of thing should be taught from a young age.
@@alexatkin That was in my DOT training films 30+ years ago... don't try to walk, "bunny hop" away from the downed line. If you're inside a vehicle that isn't on fire, stay in it. (etc.)
Love the "pool" analogy!
Cop here, son of a 35 year lineman (FPL). We REALLY appreciate folks like you that get out in front of it.
At the end of the day we just have no ability to do our jobs unless and until you've done yours. I was raised with a very healthy respect for anything energized, and have been a part of a few scenes where everyone was waiting for Georgia Power to show up.
Thanks and be safe out there!
Those scenes aren't fun 😔... Very difficult to watch while feeling helpless, but better than there being an added casualty/injury. Be safe out there J at🤝👊
awesome channel, really appreciate the inside look into day to day what lineman do for the community
When I worked EMS, we would often "go for coffee" in the direction of calls that sounded like they would need one. If they didn't need us, we got coffee and a meal. If they did, we had significantly better response times. Like you, this was in smaller centres, not larger where there may be closer units.
Thank you for making these videos!
Excellent video!
Almost 100k subs. Good for you. Keep the vids coming you have great content.
I love your videos, keep up the good work.
Great video, whenever people think of first responders they think of police, firefighters, paramedics, etc., but never once consider the linemen who are always on call and putting their lives at risk to keep the lights on and people safe from one of the most dangerous things in the world: electricity. Although I have shocked myself countless times with 100kV+ from a Tesla coil (which is high-frequency, low-current and thus "safe" compared to the 7kV running up along the poles) and even tore apart a microwave oven with a very much deadly transformer and capacitor, I don't know if I have what it takes to be a lineman, plus I'm not necessarily the best with heights so I don't know how I'd survive in a bucket truck let alone climbing a pole! Hats off to you guys for all that you do.
Question however, have you ever dealt with fires involving your equipment? Some years ago, not too far from where I live in northeast Ohio, we had a substation catch on fire. As far as I know, the substation had 138kV coming in being stepped down to 13kV or thereabouts. One of the 138/13kV transformers at the substation had to be taken offline for maintenance so a mobile unit was brought in and hooked up to a nearby 33kV line. Apparently the 33/13kV mobile transformer was improperly connected and caught fire, spewing thousands of gallons of flaming transformer oil into the air, setting the entire substation ablaze. As far as I can remember there were widespread outages due to the fire, but eventually they got it out and the substation was brought back online. How are such fires dealt with, considering transformer oil is highly combustible and there is enough electricity to kill the entire world population, thus can't be extinguished with water? I'm sure most fire departments aren't equipped to deal with such fires. Just curious.
I appreciate these videos
Thanks for sharing
Love you brother ❤️❤️❤️❤️
be safe out there, man ! from one responder to another
👊🤝
@@Bobsdecline 👊🤝
Thinking of you and yours. We in Maine hear of, and smell, the fires in Nova Scotia. (May/June 2023) I know you are not a fire-guy, and your fire-fighters are doing hard hot work today. And I am SO glad there are no reported serious injuries. But the woods and suburbs are full of wires. Wires to shut-off so the woods can be wet-down. Wires to make live so pumps etc can run.
Love hearing a Canadian say a quarter of an inch. There's hope. Ha. Another good post. Keep em coming.
I was stopping traffic across downed lines as a volunteer firefighter in a rural area. The locals “told me where to go “ and proceeded to drive around me and across the lines. I radioed the station and was happy to follow the Asst. Chief’s orders. BLOCK THE ROAD with your apparatus!
Wow. You need better locals in your area! Only an idiot would drive across power lines in the first place. Even if they're off!
@@jovetj They’re everywhere.
@@jovetj Callous tho it may sound, that kind of idiot tends to either learn quickly or be taught their last lesson.
As the footage showed, even if the line is not live right now, it can be inches away from contact with disaster.
Godspeed my man, hoping for the best for all maritimers even though some lost tonnes
That’s crazy! Good on ya tho for being prepared for the call! Drilling next to 10,12,&20 inch high pressure gas lines this week! We have to cross them 3 times too haha.
Ooof, that's never fun! Work goes so much slower too!
@@Bobsdecline amen to that! If these line are struck though it’s gonna be really really bad, but we will have watch dogs with us, and everything will be potholed! Also I look forward to that video I requested if you’re able to do it! I actually plan to use it for a course at work if that’s cool with you aswell
Yes absolutely man I'm hoping to get on that soon!
@@Bobsdecline good deal man! That wrap on those two lines were crazy but someone mowing hit a guy wire and that had a crazy wrap around the lines aswell. That was a crazy call. I miss it but I love what I do now too haha
You rock man👍👍👍👍
I'm a scanner aficionado; and when I used to service gas-stations, If I heard a call for a gas station on my pager or scanner; I'd warm up the truck.
After a massive storm came through Ottawa last year, I saw all kinds of people just casually moving or walking right over downed wires. Couldn't believe my eyes. You mentioned at the end of the video getting a tailboard sheet ready for when the other crews showed up. Would you ever consider or be allowed to make a video on what those consist of? I'd be super interested to know
Can I ask how often you get called out during the night, also how often are you actually on call?
Maybe once every week or two after midnight during normal weather. Late evening, I'd say an average of twice a week.
I'm on call 24/7/365 but work on a different schedule than the other on call crews. I serve a large area with fewer customers outside of town. While I'm expected to respond to a reasonable amount of calls, if I miss a few, the on call crews from the city will pick them up
You are the guy that we rely on to keep us from getting yeeted into the stratosphere by electricity lol
As I was watching this, we had a fire in our small city, and the Power company was called right away.. (I'm a ham, and I listen to the scanner, lol)
Lots of great information on this video. How far back should anyone remain from an arcing cable on the ground? What is the distance between where a person stands and where the cable is live on the street? The reason I ask this question is that we have a 4KV line running between poles across the street from my house. If that cable should hit the street for any reason and it's active, and it's arcing, is it safe to get out of my house?
Random question, who makes the zip up hoodie with the hi viz stripes I always see you wearing.
Got rid of that mullet at last! Nice haircut.
Lol yup! Good for the summer now! Scheduled my next cut for April 2024! Lol
3:21 "That's not cool" Yeah, fires tend to be not cool. ;)
In seriousness, house fires are very sad. But, things can be replaced. Safety of people and then animals is the most important.
So around the 10 mn mark it almost looked like there couldve been an example of step potential to the guard rail?? I only mention because Ive seen 34kv come down for firemen and it frounded to wood guardrail posts to steel guard rails. Very interesting scene.Luckily the firemen Knew to stay back . The ground around this line burned a 30 to 40 foot radius, Very cool to see how it hit the guard rail posts some 30 feet away , U should do a video on this more in depth.
A very good comment! Something that can be easily overlooked... One particular incident that comes to mind:
I had a Primary line down on a chain link fence surrounding a large industrial building. The line wouldn't kick (which is crazy, considering the well grounded fence).
Normally I go dump the line ASAP, but it was too dangerous to leave the scene. I call fire dept to assist with securing the scene and keeping people back and was then able to go dump the line.
👍👊
Уважаемый, спасибо за вашу работу и её обзор, за рассказы и пояснения, спасибо что вы просто такие ребята существуете😉👍. Я смотрю вас с другого континента🇷🇺, хоть я и не являюсь носителем языка, но многое понимаю, отличная подача материала.
Есть один вопрос, почему нельзя коммутировать (разрывать) PEN проводник? Именно почему и на чём это основывается?
Низкий поклон😎👍⚡
Had a hurricane 2020, rolled up to primary and secondary low across the road and someone tied garbage bags on the primary to flag to low wire for drivers, well it was energized 7620, a lady and her husband came out and he proudly told us that he did that and I told him to play the lottery, he asked why and I showed him with my tester that it was still hot. He’s lucky it was coated tree wire and he stood on a plastic chair to do it. Another job on that storm we had 4 broken single phase poles entire line on the ground and primary still tied. We walked up from end of radial when I spotted the red overcurrent light on the csp pot was lit up. The line was still hot and this was a few days after the storm. People had been walking around this line for a few days. Crazy shit
about 10 years ago I was out doing generator repairs after a major storm, and I saw a guy on his front lawn, standing on a stepladder, cutting a fair size branch from his service line. I stopped and asked if he had a death wish. I also said it was NOT because I was driving a company van and trying to sell him something... but I did spend 20 years in the fire service and might know a thing or two about safety. He said, "the power is out so it must be dead." I asked if could hear several neighbors running generators and if he knew whether they were properly connected? (back feeding?) I also asked if he was aware of a power crew working about 3 blocks away... and how would he know if they are about to turn the power back on? (calling a bluff here to make a point) About this time his wife comes out of the house and gives the guy a ration of shit for doing something so foolish... as I drive away, shaking my head. (true story!)
Scary shit, is what!
Probably saved his life, even when not live, metal wire can whip if it snaps under tension.
Does your company provide your work shirts and jackets? If not, where do you buy them?
My house burned down. But I still enjoy a good fire 😁
The cars sound fast. Safety is no 1.
Oh ya bigtime! They go wayyy over the speed limit on this stretch.
@@Bobsdecline What is this 'speed limit' you speak of? Never heard of such a thing.
Always interesting. That's just a single house. Makes me wonder how power companies make decisions in places like NYC where they could open a major branch but need to weigh the negatives of doing so because of so many being knocked off. They'll let those underground systems smoke pop and bang for a long time before they come up with a solution. Meanwhile the fire rages on. I'm sure there is a well-defined protocol for disconnecting branches, Not always the quickest though. Seems like it would be a fun job zeroing in on what to disconnect.
the problem with NYC stuff is you could have primary and secondary along with other circuits passing through, all in the same manhole. There are situations where it can take a while to sort out exactly which circuit has the problem... and the disconnect may be blocks away in another manhole or on a pole.
@@rupe53 Indeed. It sounds like a fun exercise for the electrical engineer. Very dangerous, very interesting.
As he said, here he disconnected the primary _on both sides._ Out in the country, it's easy to tell where both sides are. In a NYC "vault", it's not so easy to know what goes where, and thus, where to go to turn things off. Who it ends up disconnecting is not relevant.
Great conversation!
It's true that the impact of customers are considered... but also not really. When it comes to safety, that takes priority.
Two years ago someone hit a main gas line in my town. The fire department evacuated closest homes and shut down a square block.
When I arrived, we waited for the gas technician outside of the perimeter. Upon his arrival he said:
"We absolutely cannot have a spark within 100 meters of the leak".
Well... Any tap clamp/connection could spark at anytime. We also had 4 main feeders all meeting within that 100m area.
Chief said to shut em down!
Called dispatch and told them I needed to open 4 breakers asap. His initial response asked if I was sure because we were dumping over 6000 customers during supper hour (including our main business district).
Explained the situation and that yes I was sure.
The entire conversation and decision making process took about 20 seconds.
@@Bobsdecline ... an old phrase comes to mind here: "Sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission." IOW, do what you need to do and apologize later.
Great explanation as always. Got a question I can't get a straight answer from if ya don't mind. Here in the US, whats the voltage supplied to a standard phone line at the RJ-11 connector? I'm seing 15v. Thanks and keep up the great work and have a great holiday weekend man!
Standard telephone service should be 48V DC, but that depends if the line is active, or ringing, etc. Edit: Search for POTS specifications.
what you are seeing on the phone line is just some residual voltage (usually via induction) and maybe whatever you are connecting (meter?) is enough to trigger a dial tone. If the phone is ringing, you will see 70 - 90 volts AC.... and that can put you on your ass if you make contact.
@@rupe53 No joke? Theres nearly as much voltage coming out of the wall socket when a signals sent to ring a phone?! 😯 Holy shit.
@@rupe53 replied below, thanks a bunch.
@@gordonrichardson2972 OK Thank you Gordon. The lines active to receive calls. So your saying 48v on the ring signal and is there a lower idle voltage? I'll research that POTS spec. As you can tell, I'm thinking about using that voltage for something else other than a phone. I haven't seen a 'home phone' since the 2000's hehh
Cheers thank you!
They say keep 10 meters away from downed wires
Best to stay away as far as is practical.
The layout of that last segment is just weird. Why the heck did the primary go to the pole over in the trees when it could have just skipped to the next pole?
I agree 100%! I'm not sure if there was a property issue ( for guy wires) or what the deal was. There was some changes made there a few years ago.... It used to be all single phase, other than that I'm not sure what the story was
A bit off topic, but I recently moved to northern Virginia and have noticed that on every transformer they have a device attached to the primary on the stirrup then the lead to the switch is attached to it. What is the device and why would it be used? I took a picture of it… but obviously would need a way to send it.
Tap clamp perhaps? The primary lead connects to a tap clamp so that a hotsticks can then connect it to the stirrup...?
@@Bobsdecline it’s not a tap clamp. It’s a white cylinder that attaches to the stirrup and has another stirrup on the bottom
@@sum42guy2k Sounds like you're describing a cutout
@@drozcompany4132 not a cut out… that’s AFTER the device.
Possibly a Current limitung fuse... Drop me a pic on IG
There are some times you have to go cut the power on a house fire for the safety of the fire department
I've watched a lot of fire videos over the years. Even seen a few when FF's have grabbed a live secondary, went stiff and fell over 😮 Besides the actual fire, they deal with some crazy stuff!
@@grabasandwich there was a house fire in the town where I use to live there was some propane tanks that were in the garage and luckly there was no explosion 💥 but the electric lines did short out
back in the 70s, the power company came to our fire house, and we trained on how to pull meters in cases where the street feed (triplex) was not an issue. They strongly discourage that these days due to liability concerns. (even though we have a few electricians in the volunteer department) They also covered step voltage and safe working distance from downed wires, plus contact procedures. (what info they want to hear) Good stuff to know, even for a dispatcher who is not on the scene.
@@rupe53 that is a great idea to train you in the process of doing that for your safety
@@robertmailhos8159 ... these days we have national organizations like NFPA and IFTSA. They write the books on training for ALL aspects of safety in the field. We just happened to be in on the ground floor of that circa 1980. Inside the cover of the IFTSA first edition (if you can find one) the contribution list includes "Wilton Fire Dept" (that's in Ct) because we had a bunch of guys certified as state level instructors. A few years later I became an instructor as well.
Don't bring a victims to a rescue is the rule.... People have to think before acting...
Agree!
i find it strange that your power line clearance distance is SO close to other tree / branches ect , here in Australia near 20mrts clearance under the line either side to reduce line damage ect and we don't have snow
It's a huge area with lots of trees, so it's hard to keep them all trimmed back.
Canada makes Australia look like a model. Canada is vast, wooded and can be very treacherous year round not to mention winter.
Trees around power lines need to be trimmed.
trees and power lines........its a match made in hell.
Vehicles and power lines too.
@@liam3284 we forgot the critters ))
Being a ff for 15 yrs. I have seen some crazy things. One was a guy took a pole out with his truck. Secondary on the truck. We told him to stay inside. So he lit a cigarette and opened a beer. 🙅
One we had primaries down. We where a good 50 + yards away. Waiting on consumers power. Raining out. Standing when we noticed a small branch was arcing (small) on a ff shoulder. Needless to say we moved. So it was jumping from tree to tree.
Wear a body cam like they do...
People who choose fight over flight wanna be heroes.
They would rather die being known for courageously fighting the problem than to live with the guilt of saving themselves waiting for someone else to fight the problem.
Fight over flight means instinct over safety.
Maybe the ditch fire would have been much larger and more dangerous for others if not for the 'hero' disregarding the potential danger he was in.
Not condoning this, just saying it's very difficult to caution those who act on instinct.
Parallel single phase? Interesting. I'm just a lowly cable guy so I know almost nothing about your job.
I thought it was an interesting way to phrase it. I usually hear it called V phase.
It is possible to get three phase with an open Y open delta transformer. That's quite common for irrigation in rural areas.
We normally call it 2 phase, but we no longer use two phase for three phase services.
Another viewer asked in a previous video what the point was...
Basically there's too much load for a single phase line, but also no three phase customers. We basically run. Another phase in to pick up half the customers.
In addition to reducing the phase current, it cuts the neutral current by 4X. If you're ever having a problem with stray currents, this is a good way to reduce the stray currents at half the cost of converting to full three phase.
Having a really big single phase line (big as in total load amount) can be compensated by loading the other phases an equal amount is possible. Basically either more single phase lines are tapped with a bias to the other phases, or the other phases are picked to add single phase loads where all three are present.
But this causes a big problem for protection. That entire single phase line can be taken out by a fault just past the first protection. If that happens, the system is massively imbalanced. When picking the setting of the ground current trip, it has to be set high enough that the loss of the largest single phase line doesn't cause a trip, otherwise the whole line will be dumped. It is desirable to set the ground fault current as low as possible, because the ground fault current is the best at picking up a weak fault, like a line on dry dirt. High ground fault current certainly ups the risk of starting a fire.
We have two phase for 3 phase customers. It’s and open delta bank which only requires 2 phases of primary to give a customer 3 phase secondary. The voltage is 120/240/208, so basically from one transformer it’s 120 phase to ground on two legs then a wild leg with 208v and between any three it is 240v, so the customers 3 phase equipment is 240v.
Sometimes that’s not always a option to wait for someone to respond a a major fire could of killed thousands of lives and ruined millions of dollars in homes so yes I’m thankful he prevented that even though he risked his own life by doing it bc we all know how slow fire departments can be at times
I hear ya there