Attempted wire theft on energized 7200 V line

[tom baker]

Following was in the Kitsap Sun today:
November 23, 2006

Attempt to Cut Power CableCauses Blackout

East Bremerton

Businesses along a three-block stretch of Wheaton Way near Pearl Street found themselves without power Wednesday morning after vandals tried to cut through a high-voltage cable at an abandoned former fast food restaurant.

Puget Sound Energy received a call at 6 a.m. about the power outage, according to PSE employee Richard Jenkins. Responders arrived to find bolt cutters still embedded in the cable.

Whoever tried to cut the 7,200-volt cable likely received a shock, Jenkins said.

"There?s probably someone out there hurting right now," he said.

Power was restored by about 9:15 a.m.

>>>Must of been one heck of an arc!

 

[celtic]

I have a pretty nasty PowerPoint presentation of the result of a similar theft (HiVoltageShock.pps)...the victim/alleged thief is shown...I'm not sure where I got it from - probably from someone here

WARNING
This presentation is highly graphic and horrific
​

515KB ~ pretty small.

PM me if you want to have a copy of it....don't forget to include your email address in the request.

 

[mdshunk]

I'd say that the theft of energized conductors is a crime that often solves itself, if you know what I mean. Theft of energized conductors often ends up being a crime punishable by death.

 

[tallgirl]

I have a pretty nasty PowerPoint presentation of the result of a similar theft (HiVoltageShock.pps)...the victim/alleged thief is shown...I'm not sure where I got it from - probably from someone here

WARNING
This presentation is highly graphic and horrific
​

515KB ~ pretty small.

PM me if you want to have a copy of it....don't forget to include your email address in the request.

It's out on the web. Feed the filename to Google and it shows up at the top of the list.

I find these things morbidly fascinating. It always makes me wonder what the person who did whatever it was was thinking. My favorites, from earlier in my life, was when one of my clients would have a salvage or surveying job because some idiot had swung a crane boom out all the way, over the side of a barge, and tried to pick up something heavy. It usually resulted in the crane and operator landing in the Mississippi River. And that's not the most forgiving river when it comes to people and stuff falling in.

 

[allenwayne]

google in electrocuted thief and you will be surprised just how many people climb power lines and try it.I guess stupid is as stupid does !!!!!!!

 

[acrwc10]

google in electrocuted thief and you will be surprised just how many people climb power lines and try it.I guess stupid is as stupid does !!!!!!!

There is a guy in my city 'he is not an electrician' who lost a leg in high school by climbing a high voltage tower while drunk. The twist to the story is he sued the bar that served him and got very large settlement from them.

 

[celtic]

Sometimes, the end result isn't caused by theft - just sheer stupidity.

Back when I worked on the RR, every few years someone (non RR personel) would get baked on the catenary(13k - 25k) or signal lines (2k). People do dumb things....like climb a structure to retrive a kite or a footbal.
One such incidient resulted in the deaths of 3 people....the first person climbed up to retrieve their "item" - dead; his friend went up to get him - dead; a cop went up to "rescue" them - dead.

All these needless deaths inspite of warning signs and no easy access to the structures base.

Whether through stupidty or theft, the end result is never pretty.