Fri, 04/18/2008 - 6:59pm

Like someone mentioned before you can use potable water on live electric, how do you think electric companies wash insulators and electrical equipment when it doesn't rain for a while. You have to use a fogging motion or back and forth sweeping motion. The contamination /burnt pole pieces probably ran down the pole and tracked over to other sources of ground which caused an even bigger fire . It happens all the time over here on the Texas coast.

Thu, 04/17/2008 - 3:44pm

same question could be asked! Since when are firemen, LINEMAN

Tue, 04/08/2008 - 11:07pm

Yeh Man- Dry Chem is the only way to fly with this type of problem! Been at it for 40+ years! Where was his main man? Is this a Nat'l Grid Co.? Were the insulator's I-7's (aluminum)? Not withstanding, what kind of a dumb ___k sprays anything, other than proper Dry Chem on a hot Pole fire? At least, drop the fuses before Firefighting operations begin! Would like to know where these boys were prior to the heroic "EFFORT" took place!

Tue, 04/08/2008 - 7:50pm

I sincerely hope that you linemen at Atlantic Electric take a close look at that set of strain insulators on that middle phase. A.B. Chance Insulators are failing. Both Aluminum and steel from a certain manufacturing date era. If you are not aware of the problem, they leak to ground through the steel attachments at the pole and then start the pole fires from inside....

Tue, 04/08/2008 - 4:41pm

Foolish,
The lineman that you see in the video should have his ticket taken from him. Any lineman with any sense knows what is causing the fire. The insulators were tracking over and going to ground. Like the old salt in the post before me said, he is damn lucky the top of the pole didn't fall in his lap or one of those phases come down on him. Sorry, but the truth hurts. Kill the power and the fire will probably go out or atleast then you can douse it with water.

Tue, 04/08/2008 - 9:42am

I'm a retired line foreman with 35 years service. The lad in the bucket should be glad he escaped serious injury or even death. It was apparent to me that the pole fire was probably caused either by a hot tap (wire) touching the pole or its hard wear; or most probably an insulator had failed and was allowing current to travel to ground through the steel hard wear bolted through the pole. Any good line foreman worth his salt knows that the center, or Heart of the pole can be a good source of ground. It's apparent in the video that the fire had started inside the pole and burned outward decreasing the poles physical strength as it burned outward. You can see that the cross arms had already started to pull away from the pole. At that point the entire top of the pole could have ended up in the lineman's lap; hot primary wires and all. In this case, water should not have been used as the fire worsened immediately after the initial application of water. (increasing the conductivity for current flow). SECONDLY: The bucket truck should have been positioned BEHIND and AWAY from where the top of the pole could have fallen, as the primary wires were dead ended on the side he approached. It appears to me that someone was in to big a hurry to do something without thinking of the potential consequences. I'm glad no one was hurt. And for those who say you can't use water in the primary area, you can. You use a fogging pattern from the fire hose only and you are completely safe. Just keep the firemen and civilians away from the area. In this case the power should have been killed first because of the situation.

Mon, 04/07/2008 - 3:16pm

That was awesome.

Mon, 04/07/2008 - 1:40pm

We always de-energize before extinguishing, this is the reason why. Lives are more importaint than reliability. Thank you nomex/PPE... OSHA for sure.

Mon, 04/07/2008 - 11:19am

Interesting video, with very good camera work. Glad no one was hurt. Can someone that was there describe what actually happened? As you can see, what looks like the top wire falls to the ground. Did it act like a fuse, due to the short on the pole, or did something else happen like the bucket hiting it? Also, would someone know if this is the electric company's usual protocol to use water to handle these types of fires? And if so, does it usually work out fine without incident? I would have guessed using a CO2 extinguisher or does that mean you have to get too close? Anybody know?

Mon, 04/07/2008 - 9:29am

CAN ANY ONE SAY OSHA

Thu, 04/03/2008 - 8:08pm

Don't put water on LIVE electric. Once it's disconnected, it's ok.

Thu, 04/03/2008 - 5:01pm

DRY CHEMICAL! or CUT the Power First - Then put the Water! Don't worry about the people who don't want the outage - Lives are more important.

Indian Tanks are for grass fires - Any trained firefighter knows that!

Stick to what you know! - Safety First!

Thu, 04/03/2008 - 5:51am

thankfully the lineman was not injured... the problem is the salt, not the water, folks. How many times do you think it has rained on that pole in the last 20 years? I have extinguished pole fires like this one... it is risky but nobody wants their power shut off either.

Thu, 04/03/2008 - 12:30am

Ricky saw you on NBC 40 and NBC 10! You own the news!

Wed, 04/02/2008 - 8:24pm

Nice job Rick

Wed, 04/02/2008 - 6:29pm

Great video, Rick!

Wed, 04/02/2008 - 5:12pm

haha my dadyy was there !!! :]]] thats hansbury in the bucket :]]]

Wed, 04/02/2008 - 3:16pm

How dumb do you have to be! Why would you put water on an " Electrial" fire, were we not taught this in grade school.

Anyway........ enjoyed the video, the slow motion was interesting!

Wed, 04/02/2008 - 2:41pm

I doubt that was plain water. looked like another type of extinguisher...
I would hope that someone trained to be an Atlantic Electric Lineman would KNOW about the whole water and electricity thing??? ya know? double duh...

Wed, 04/02/2008 - 2:35pm

Since when are electric men, FIREMEN.

Wed, 04/02/2008 - 1:45pm

WATER ON ELECTRIC. That fire dept. is lucky that man didn't get killed. Could you say LAWSUIT.

Wed, 04/02/2008 - 6:27am

Do Not Put Water on Electric Da!

Tue, 04/01/2008 - 8:45pm

Don't give a link to a video if it is not posted yet!!