Posted on 09/19/2011 5:20:05 AM PDT by Mountain Bike Vomit Carnage
A father and his teenage daughter were in critical condition after receiving severe burns during an alleged attempt to steal electricity from high-voltage power lines in Inglewood, a police official said Saturday.
L.A. County Fire officials and police responding to an explosion at a power transformer late Friday found the 52-year-old man and his 17-year-old daughter with extensive electric burns, Inglewood Police Lt. Neal Cochran said.
The man had used tools to tap into a live wire, resulting in a chain reaction and causing the transformer to explode, Cochran said. The father and daughter, whose names were not released, were taken to a nearby hospital pending an eventual transfer to a burn unit, he said.
Power lines connected to the transformer, near Hawthorne Boulevard and 101st Street, were temporarily shut off because of the explosion, according to Cochran. The incident occurred around 11:40 p.m. Friday.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
If you are going to handle electrical conductors you need to be NFPA 70 E compliant.
http://www.ieci.org/uploads/SafetyPresentation12.15.06.pdf
Arc flash is a real life changing event.
some ambulance chasing lawyer will sue the utility company and these two crooks will be on easy street. If they live. Maybe missing a few limbs.
This one begs some background information regarding the two involved. Tapping into the electrical grid is not a “normal” MO for the average American. The integrity of the grid would be seriously in jeopardy were this to become a general practice.
There are places where this is a common problem, they are places most of us would not like to live.
Here! Hold muh beer and watch this!
“... since he didn’t actually steal anything, he and the kid can’t be charged, right?”
They already were charged, a lot!
Balloon transformer explosion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hc7BZZmxA4
Attempted theft is a crime. The law doesn’t give a thief a break because he is inept and failed to finish what he started.
That would include Inglewood. Trust me, you wouldn't want to live there.
Well, I would guess that he didn't pay for the electricity that flowed through them ...
... charge him with stealing that.
High Voltage Arcs and Sparks Page
http://205.243.100.155/frames/longarc.htm
High Voltage Sparks and Arcs (scroll down a bit)
The above sequence of jpegs show what happens when the boom of a Link Belt crane accidentally comes too close
to a 46 kV power feeder. The feeder arcs to the boom, elevating the potential of the entire crane. The base of the
crane arcs to the steel reinforcement bars in the concrete, causing the concrete below the crane to explode! After
a couple of reclosures, the feeder’s circuit breaker finally locks out, killing power. However, by this time the hydraulic
oil, hoses, and tires have all ignited, and the entire crane becomes engulfed in flames.
Thanks for that presentation. I hadn’t realized the dangers inherent in the arc flash above and beyond that of the potential electrocution.
Does electrically charged count?
As Obama's economy continues to develop, expect to see more incidents like this. We are turning into a third world country. Or is that a turd world country?
wita wrote:
There are places where this is a common problem, they are places most of us would not like to live.
Obviously these thieves couldn't get funding to put solar panels on their roof for power. Which means, based on this incident, we need more grants for home solar panels. </sarcasm>
They were CHARGED alright!
Those guys lives will never be the same.
More victims of the Baraqqi Depression.
If this had happened 3 yrs ago, the Slimes would undoubtedly have thrown in a reference to the bad economy as their impetus for committing this crime.
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