Fire fighters hurt when ladder gets too close to overhead line.

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That two of the fire fighters were in the hospital burn unit and the power [FONT=Helvetica Neue, helvetica, sans-serif] was knocked out for about an hour suggest a momentary contact of the ladder with the power lines. Just a sad consequence of not complying with the minimum power line ground clearance.[/FONT]
 
Most probably, the power line minimum ground clearance was violated by the unfortunate fire fighting team.:happysad:
 
Sahib said:
Most probably, the power line minimum ground clearance was violated by the unfortunate fire fighting team.:happysad:
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The Minimum Approach Distance was certainly violated. Even worse, this wasn't a fire emergency, it was a charity stunt.

Mark
 
A friend of mine who does parking lot lighting repairs found out the hard way that you don't need to touch the wires to get a jolt.

He said his muscles clenched up while in his bucket truck and almost couldn't use the controls to lower himself. Not sure what voltage, but it was the transmission lines along a busy road with many businesses. They were on the tall metal poles, not the high towers.
 
There may be an issue regarding whether the lines were properly marked as to voltage, which would affect the approach distance. But I am sure the bucket got too close for any energized lines regardless of voltage.
The description of an arc and current through the ladder makes it clear that it was not just a non-contact field effect phenomenon.
 
GoldDigger said:
The description of an arc and current through the ladder makes it clear that it was not just a non-contact field effect phenomenon.
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Perhaps the ladder came within any corona region of the power lines, which might have changed the partial arc discharge i.e corona into a full arc flash without the ladder actually contacting the lines.
 
The absolute minimum clearance from any overhead line is 10'. It does go up where the voltage exceeds 50kV. The minimum permitted clearance for the 69kV line would have been 11'. I am sure that there is a safety factor built into these numbers, and doubt that the 69kV would jump out and get you at the 10' absolute minimum clearance.

This was a tragic, but very preventable accident. The training needs to be re-enforced for this type of activity. This type accident happens all too often both in construction activities as well as emergency service activities. Some cranes have voltage detection and warning equipment on the booms to help prevent this type of accident. Maybe voltage detection equipment needs to be required by OSHA on any type of equipment that could have a close approach to overhead lines.
 
Sad to report that Capt. Tom passed away from his injuries. The other guy has been released from the hospital but still has several months of recovery.
 
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