[ProtectOurFreedom]

High winds cause high voltage transmission lines to "gallop" or swing wildly. If they contact each other or contact nearby trees, sparks fall and set fires. It really isn't a problem of the lines falling down (at least until the fires burn the poles and the distribution lines come down).

Interestingly, investigations show a lot of the recent forest fires were caused by power lines on private land, not by PG&E transmission lines.

The fix is more aggressive tree-trimming so lines don't contact trees. I'm not sure why the budgeting isn't adequate to trim adequately. I'd guess that too much money is being spent on renewables, but the money for generation and T&D are from different companies that don't compete.

What a scary job piloting that helo! Not a lot of room for error.

YouTube video: Trimming trees by power line with helicopter

[TADSLOS]

Precision flying for sure.

[Hojczyk]

The greenies will not let them cut the trees..

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Thanks for the information. Looks like a long-time neglect of what needed to be done.

We don’t have that kind of problem here, but I have noticed how Cook County, IL neglects maintenance of its large forest preserves. Most of them are thick with underbrush dead and alive, and dead and fallen trees, and they could easily catch fire too.

[Viking2002]

Here in Alabama, they have a five year or ten year line inspection. Last year they were working in our area. We had an 80’ yellow pine on the property (we have several), and it died after a lightning strike. I drove up to the foreman and told him it was about ready to come down and take out the power at the end of the street, and left. I came back later, and it was cut down to the base of the trunk. On one hand, the cheapest tree removal service I could find started at $600 plus hauling, so it was a money saver. On the other hand, the foreman told me they’d cut it up into logs to make it easier to haul. What I found was 75 linear feet of solid tree in my yard, waiting for the chain saw. LOL