Posted on 07/16/2007 3:35:05 PM PDT by george76
Firefighters weren't sure what was causing the smoke rising from a former discount store in this Baltimore suburb. The place had been abandoned for years, the interior stripped to the walls.
When they got inside July 2, they found only one thing burning: a 41-year-old man who became engulfed in flames and died after cutting through a high-voltage line.
Sean Phelps became another ghastly casualty of what authorities say is a deadly national trend: copper wiring thefts.
High copper prices in recent years have thieves breaking into power plants and abandoned factories to rip out the wiring. Vandals are even stealing from gravesites.
There is no national count of people killed in copper theft attempts, but news accounts put the death toll at about two dozen over the past 12 months.
When Phelps cut the wire carrying at least 220 volts, he was hit with a powerful electrical arc, similar to what happens when lightning strikes or a transformer blows.
Most copper thefts are nuisances, such as a recent rash at a Maryland youth baseball park that has left Little Leaguers without lights for night games.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This guy never would have made a lineman.
The only problem I ever had with my Fluke 87 was that some low-life stole mine!
Mark
I’ll bet this rash of copper and brass thefts has more than just a little to do with illegal immigration.
220 volts is “high voltage”? Reporter ain’t all that bright, neither.
Bingo!
The metal scrap yard operators are in on it.
The homeless dreck who show up with copper cables are thieves to anyone without an agenda.
I would much rather use the Fluke than the Wiggy. I was at one plant in the Detroit area where one electrician used a Wiggy to check a ciruit. Turned out to be a 6600 volt vacuum breaker. The Wiggy turned into a plasma ball, he got a lot of third degree burns. I was about twenty five feet away at the time, going over some PLC code.
Of course the electrian was using the wrong tool around the vacuum breaker. There are special voltage probes designed specifically for those higher voltages.
I work for a company that routinely does civil work for electrical contractors. Not little stuff, we install the ductbanks from power plants to substations. The electrical safety stuff we have to go through to be anywhere near the high-voltage stuff is intense and expensive, but we have never had an injury or death. We do fire new guys who try to play hot-shot and don’t 100% adhere to procedure, though. There is no room for error.
It’s nice being the #1 contractor on the preferred contractors list.
Looks like the perp wasn’t trained in proper tagout lockout procedures.
Have you ever met any of the guys that do recycling? The guys that bring the stuff in are the weirdos.
“Fuumph!” er... um... Ping!
LOL!
Mike
This is not unusual, and happens from time to time. Not every day, mind you, but often enough to remind the rest of us why we shouldn’t be stealing copper. Especially copper that is still connected to the utility’s system.
This is another problem we’ve imported (or has snuk across the border).
These people are great scavengers, And it doesn’t matter if someone owns that “salvage”. They’ve been cutting off the copper ground cables on electric poles around here as well.
The problem is not with the thieves, but with shady recycling places that accept things like obvious grave markers. No market -- no thieves.
Huh? copper bottles?
WTF are you talking about? A deposit for buying copper?
So, you want to pay a deposit on the pc you are using because the power supply has a few coils of copper wire in it?
A good lineman knows that a ground shouldn’t be considered “dead” either.
That is high voltage, more than enough to kill you dead. All depends on how many amps are behind it. 220, 10 amps, say bye bye.
Yeah, it can kill you, so can your 12 volt car battery, but neither are considered high voltage.
I’ve seen the crane video before - it’s impressive. If that doesn’t teach respect for high voltage, nothing will!
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