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View Full Version : Ameren fatality and Par AP burned in St. Louis



rgnizr
07-25-2006, 05:07 PM
St. Louis Post Dispatch (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/FA065AD5195C5A51862571B600606C33?OpenDocument)

News-Leader.com (http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060725/BREAKING01/60725009)

Our hearts go out to the family of the fallen brother and hopes for a full recovery for the brother who got burnt.

billfoster67
07-25-2006, 06:19 PM
We have all done it. Just walking backlot, through brush in the dark. Trying to find the trouble. Did someone close a cutout on him, or did a recloser get him. You never know what happens in these news columns. Will there be an investigation?

I'll pray and I know those Missouri locals, 53 and I think 2 really take care of their own. And I hope the apprentice will be OK.

BigClive
07-26-2006, 09:10 AM
The fallen line in the brush scenario seems to happen quite a lot. I wonder if you could hook a little voltage field detector onto your belt to audibly indicate the presence of a concealed line as you approached.

Then again... It's a rare enough situation that nobody would wear them.

Mrs.NMTramp
07-26-2006, 02:58 PM
Companies still think that it is okay for a well-qualified and experienced lineman to do the job as a troubleman by themselves. Holding a radio doesn't do a lot of good if the man gets into contact or has a fall and can't push the button.

This is always the bad dream waiting to happen. Nothing worse than seeing that blue car drive up front. Damn people in the paper crying about the response and how the rates should be dropped to compensate them for their inconvenience. Get Rev. Al out there to walk a few of those back yard jungles and he'll shut up. One comment on here mentioned some kind of a detector to be worn for that. Let Al be the first one.

Thanks to the guys in StL who called yesterday to let us know about our friend. It means everything. Be careful...

Lnemn's Mom
07-26-2006, 04:18 PM
Prayers go out the the family of the man who was killed and hope that the apprentice is going to be alright. He's got a long road ahead of him, as does the family and friends of the lineman who was killed. My thoughts are with you at this time.

razorkitsafety
07-26-2006, 08:06 PM
I know how it feels to witness first hand the horror of having a brother burnt. I would like to ask for prayers to go out for a 37 year old lineman with a 10 year old child. This lineman [10 years experience] lost both hands in a contact with 7200KV line. He was not wearing his rubber gloves changing out a guy lead. The preform made contact with the main line jumper. He is alive,but he has a long road ahead of him. PPE may have prevented this form being as severe as it is. I am like many of you. Please enforce safety rules for this reason. Think Safety!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

billfoster67
07-28-2006, 12:17 AM
I know there is a lot of men that worked that Kansas City Ice Storm, in 01 or 02. There was a young lineman that died climbing on a singe phase deadend structure-end of a tap. He had contact with the can and the stinger coming out of the primary bushing. I think there was the same uproar then, about poorer neighborhoods not getting their power back on. The hard work all the men did their got sucked into politics. That poor kid from Iowa wasn't heralded or heard about in the paper. All the yards knew- felt bad- big chip in from every yard and the 53 meeting. Nobody treats us like fireman or police man. I remember we got to catch a snooze after working over 30 hours, and we tried to hide to get some energy- people still banging ou our windows for power. Its hard for the public to understand.

As for Al Sharpton, Have him grab his hooks and go into these backyards in the poor neighborhoods. I had to walk fences to get to the poles, pit bulls all over the place. Then you have the sheds full of crap against the poles, and garbage strewn all over the yards, and uncared for mean dogs, thickets of briar bushes. And there is no place to put the trucks, you got broken down cars all over the place. And dealing with people -customers-that are high and drunk stinks. Either your the saviour or the devil to them. You always had to improvise a way to put up a house knob. As soon as you sucked up on the service their rotting house would fall apart on you- then they would be screaming for money.

God Bless you to all working those storms. God Bless to the families of those who died. And I hope someone would put up an address for the two men for a pitch in- funeral costs and such.... Hopefully the local can set something up.

lineman barn
07-28-2006, 05:47 AM
Our prayers go out to this man's family and to the injured young man. The tropics will heat up very soon and most of you will be out restoring power. Please, please be careful.

CHICAGO HAND.
07-29-2006, 09:57 AM
anyone hear about the utility down in st louis being investigated about how long it has taken for restore?
i know up here as everywhere else our trade is so shorthanded even with contractors on the property.
i say haul all these corporate nazis up front and have them explain there salaries while the system needs upgrading and experienced bodies to keep it going.
here is another bitch i have, why would the international support abolishing the ten hour rest period for utility crews? are they freaking that out of touch with the amount of overtime we have been working for the last few years?i say put the president of the international( Edwin Hill ) in the seat next to me after some of the shifts they have us on lately and see if he would reconsider his thoughts on the issue.

JJLINEDOG
07-29-2006, 06:54 PM
Local 17 Sends There Condolences Out To Bobs Family & The Ameren Family I Just Got Back From St Louis My Heart Just Dropped When We Heard. Bob Will Always Be In Our Thoughts And Prayers If Anything Good Could Come Out Of This It Made Me Think About How Much Im Loved Back Home And To Come Home In One Piece.


R.i.p. Brother See You In Heaven



PS I WOULD ALSO LIKE INFO ON JESSE WARREN THE LINEMAN THAT GOT BURNT I WANT TO KNOW HOW HES DOIN





















7

tramp67
07-30-2006, 02:23 AM
I, along with several other brothers, visited Jesse Warren at St. John's Hospital burn center Saturday afternoon. Jesse is in very good spirits and is looking forward to his recovery and completion of the apprenticeship program. He has a long road ahead of him, but he's doing well and I am sure he will pull through this ordeal. His family says he might be released towards the middle of next week, depending on how well his skin grafts take hold. He has an excellent staff taking care of him, and one of his nurses is married to a lineman that was burned last year, so she understands what Jessie is going through. Jessie's friends and family are keeping him company, and are very supportive of his desire to stay in line work. I wish Jessie well, and look forward to working with him someday in the future. He's a very upbeat and friendly individual, and I don't think he will let this get him down or hold him back from anything he wants to do.

JJLINEDOG
07-30-2006, 08:23 PM
thats good tramp im glad that an accident isnt going to stop him from completing his apprenticeship hopefully he learns from the accident tell him that local 17 hands are pullin for him hope to see him in the field soon.
we were told that he lost control of a hot tail is that what happen i would like to know to share it with our apps so it dont happen to them.

tramp67
07-30-2006, 09:21 PM
This is how Jesse's accident occurred, as he told it to me.
His crew was sent to repair a downed single phase primary conductor after the storms in St Louis. The crew arrived at the location, and a #6 copper primary had broken approximately two feet beyond the top tie, and one span of wire was on the ground. Jesse climbed the pole, past the secondaries and common neutral conductor to the top of the pole. This pole also had a telemetry cabinet a few feet from the top of the pole, in the primary zone, used for remote meter reading. The crew thought the 7200 volt line was de-energized, but no grounds were installed, so they were going to treat the line as being hot. The plan was for the end of the conductor on the ground to be pulled up to Jesse with the handline, and he was going to reconnect the conductor with an automatic sleeve. When Jesse reached the top of the pole, he attached the handline and asked a crew member to send up his rubber gloves and sleeves (he apparently climbed to the top of the pole in leather gloves). As he was repositioning himself to reach the handline and get his gloves, he made contact with the tail of the conductor still tied in to the top of the pole. The second point of contact Jesse made was against the metal telemetry cabinet, which is solidly grounded. This is known because of the two burn marks on the cabinet. Jesse wasn't sure if he made contact by bumping the tail, or if the tail dropped down when he reset his gaffs into the pole as he was repositioning himself. According to the doctors at the burn center, Jesse would have had much more serious injuries but his shirt was wet due to the high temperatures that day, and most of the current followed along the surface of Jesse's body instead of through him internally.
There were several things that all contributed to this accident.
1) The line was never tested.
2) There was no visual open.
3) The direction of feed was not confirmed visually.
4) No grounds were installed.
5) Rubber gloves and sleeves should have been worn before entering the primary zone, even if the line was grounded, due to the possibility of backfeed from the many generators in use.
6) The work zone wasn't isolated from the many paths to ground - the common neutral, secondaries, and especially the telemetry cabinet and associated wiring - which would have been very difficult to cover up with rubber.
Jesse said he learned a very valuable lesson the hard way from this accident, and knows he is fortunate to still be alive. He said he will pass this lesson on to other people, in hopes that it won't happen to someone else.
Good luck, Jesse!

Mrs.NMTramp
08-14-2006, 01:32 AM
I finally had a chance to hunt this video down for my Bob and thought I would pass it on to everyone here. He was wishing he could have seen the funeral procession with all the trucks and the overpasses decorated by the guys. Here it is...

http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=101536

Alan Mac
08-15-2006, 01:55 AM
Thank you for posting the link Mary. May the good Lord bless you and your daughters.

Take care.

Mac