Linemen vs. Firemen

[hotwiretamer]

Just curious how other places handle emergencies with Fire dept. (Pole/Transformer fires, house fires, car accidents involving pad mount equip.,etc.) We finally convinced our management that it was not a good idea to let the local FD pull meters on house fires, or carry fuse sticks. Yes, actually they used to carry these things! They have given back meter ring tools and such, and now they rely on us to pull meter, or cut down the services on house fires. I have pulled up to many of fires over the years, and it's amazing to me that we haven't lost a local FM to electricution!
I have rolled up to witness them spraying water on a OH transformer fire, and when I questioned them about it, they said they had been "trained" to hit with "short bursts". I've also showed up when a neutral was burned in two. They were avoiding contact with the wire, but it was a radial tap feeding a 3 phase bank to a market. Talk about some risky step potential!
God bless our firefighters, but I think some are not quite schooled enough in the dangers of powerlines!

[Highplains Drifter]

Excellent point!! I know we have discussed this before but I feel it is well worth reviewing again. If I remember there are a couple of lineman that are members here that did go and talk to fire departments.

[duckhunter]

We do not let them pull meters. We have provided Electrical Safety training to the majority of the fire departments in our area. They have been very good about waiting for us. We tell them we wont fight fires if they leave our stuff alone.

[electriklady]

The firemen are of good intentions........and with us sometimes it takes sooooooo long to get to the scene because of our territory, they could be waiting over an hour for us.....that being said...I have seen some do some very frightening things...........

I think it would be a GREAT idea for(in our case) First Energy to put on a program or a couple because of distance apart of the fire companies, once a year and give them the basics of what they can safely do and what is completely out of their realm to do. I truly feel many of them do not know what they are "messing with" or the possible consequences of some of their actions. It would be a great "community spirited" program to do, as firemen help us out a lot out her in the sticks......Give them the training, put on a lunch for them during the training.......Corporate responsibility and "giving back to the communities"

It would be a win win situation for the company and the fire dept.


6/6

[Pootnaigle]

The firemen around here had some kind of attitude. Once when a lightening arrestor in a substation faulted I arrived and the cheif informed me that he was denying entry to anyone until he better Understood what had happened, On another occasion a hydraulic hose on a bucket truck ruptured and the oil caught fire.The fire dept shut the entire job down,They were pretty arrogant lil guys around here, and most of em were afraid of their own shadow.More than once I have seen em pull a CT meter thinking they would be working safe.Any structure fire resulted in them requesting an emergency response often to barns or garages with no electrical anywhere near em. And more often that not they came in the wee hours of the morning. and never got cancelled.......... Personally I thought they were pretty damn dumb and remarkably ineffecient.At a house fire it was SOP for the police dept to block both ends of the street and then go rubberneck the housefire. Leaving me a 2 or 3 block walk to find one so I could properly respond.Not my favorite bunch to deal with.

[wudwoker51]

Back in the late 80's I was at a 4th of July party at my brother-in-laws (we both worked at a IOU) when we heard a call come over his company radio of a man down from the dispatcher. Of course both of us thought that the man down was one of our co-workers. Even though we had quite a few brews we jumped in his company truck and took off to the scene. When we arrived I could not believe what I saw. A ladder truck with the ladder still in the air above the neutral (actually touching it) on a 3 phase double deadend pole and 4 or so fireman leaning on the truck while another was getting ready to move the ladder. Needless to say I went f#%@ing ballistic and told them all to get off the truck and to not move the ladder until the troubleman on call arrived at the scene. The police on the scene smelled the alcohol on me and made me leave or face going to jail so we left. Here is what happened that day. A lady had called the fire department regarding a cat up on a power pole. The fireman went to the scene and observed the cat on the steel D.E. arm between the phases. The chief ordered the ladder put into the position I described and told a 20 yr. old trainee to climb the ladder and remove the cat. The kid about half way up decided that this was not a smart thing he was getting ready to do so he went back down, and the chief then preceded to "I'll show you" and ascended the ladder. When he reached the primary zone he raised up to get the cat and the back of his head contacted the outside phase and he fell 40ft. to the ground. Needless to say he was dead before he hit. 37 yrs.old with 3 children including a 3 month old. Truly a sad day that I will never forget.

[LEAFMAN]

We do not let them pull meters. We have provided Electrical Safety training to the majority of the fire departments in our area. They have been very good about waiting for us. We tell them we wont fight fires if they leave our stuff alone.

We have done the same thing at our utility, the fire dept does not touch any of our equipment. If our stuff is burning, they let it burn.

[old lineman]

Here's one that should be discussed while your at it.
The firemen will almost always get to a vehicle accident before linemen do. If a power has been involved there could be downed wires laying across the vehicle with someone inside.
Needless to say a fire could be involved.
Do you think they will standby and watch the victim burn or try to get them out. The answer is obvious.
What should the power company say on this point. Your damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
Perhaps they should at least be informed of the dangers.
The Old Lineman

[electric squirrel]

My wife is one,,,she knows what I tell her and what she has read in my old apprentice books. The rest of her coworkers don't know shit, they for the most part think I have an attitude.She tries to inform them about hazards but few listen the ones that do have my respect.....

[Trbl639]

About once a year or so, I gave a program on Safety to the local FD and all the Volunteers from the VFD's that wanted to come....made a believer out of them, but still on occasion one of em pulled a stupid stunt!!!! And if I was there and saw it or heard about it, me, the Chief, and the idiot had a talk!!

We had an agreement...they were fireman and put out fires...I was the electrical expert...you don't do mine and I won't do yours!! We had a good relationship!