arson investigators

[reppy007]

Like all of you ,Ive been on many fire calls,homes,apartments,buildings,tire dumps,ect.You get used to it,walk up to the trucks ,find the chief and ask what he wants.Go onto the property past the yellow warning tape and find your way to the area that you need to be in.Ive noticed that even while doing this you are on your own,they dont watch what way you went or what your doing,there too busy.All I, ever needed was a hard hat and tell em that I was with the power co.........no questions asked.....walls falling down and all that good stuff,kind of gets the adrenaline going,sometimes you might even meet the arson guys,investigators,most times Id only see one............usually it would be the next day,in the morning.Even noticed they carry guns.I just wonder how well they are trained,not as far as finding the spot where the fire began,but the electric causes,They wouldnt know if a neutral was involved,all the evidence would be gone,just wondering how far these guys go.

[topgroove]

Thats exactly why our responcibity ends at the point of attachement. The atachement point, entrance cable, and meter chanal are all customer owned and inspected prior to setting the meter. I've had fire calls that were so out of controll I had to dump the primary. Flames so high they were licking at the primary.


Sometimes they set-up those arial trucks up above the primary. The preasure at those nozzles is so powerfull it rips the roof to pieces. The basket dangerously close to the primary. I head for the first set of switches and dump it.

[duckhunter]

We had a house fire just about a year ago where the homeowner was trying to blame us through the contractor working on our system. The home is in a rural area where two circuits happen to tie together. The contractor was working on the circuit that was not feeding the membber, but only about a 1/2 mile away. When the fire call came in, we dispatched the contractor because he was closest. All he did was open the cutout feeding the transformer.

The homeowners's insurance company was claiming that a surge was caused by working being done by the contractor. We, with the contractor brought in our own expert to investigate. There was a surge in the panel, but it was caused by the neutral failing in the panel. I'll look at the report to see the brand, it had something to do with the design of the neutral buss in this panel. The style no longer met code anywhere. But the expert for the insurance company recognized the problem right away from the brand of panel and the way the fire burned the panel. Both sides seemed pretty sharp about what they were checking. It was interesting to be a part of it.

[duckhunter]

I checked the report, this was a Cutler-Hammer panel. I recall that the neutral buss in the panel was of a split design, that was the problem according to the experts for both the homeowner and us. The contractor and us used the same investigator.

[MI-Lineman]

I checked the report, this was a Cutler-Hammer panel. I recall that the neutral buss in the panel was of a split design, that was the problem according to the experts for both the homeowner and us. The contractor and us used the same investigator.

"Of a split design?" Most remote boxes have to be split from the ground now so if you loose the neutral the ground won't take it's place and cause a possible shock or fire hazard but only the remote boxes not the main. Was it the customers main panel or a remote? I never agreed with this code? So many older homes depend too much on the ground for their neutral! I always thought either way there's a hazard but which would be worse?

[duckhunter]

I'll look for more info on it. This wasn't a panel, it was the main for the house. I know that both sides agreed that this style no longer fit code and was the cause.

[MI-Lineman]

I'll look for more info on it. This wasn't a panel, it was the main for the house. I know that both sides agreed that this style no longer fit code and was the cause.

No matter! What I'm talkin about is a relatively new code? What I meant was the "remote" boxes neutral and grounds are split from each other! Then dependin on where or what the remote box (which is just another panel for say a barn or garage?) is located you either run a fourth wire from the remote for a ground to the main panel or use a driven ground at the remote box? That last part varies dependin on codes for that area!

I see where havin the neutral and ground split for say a buildin with exposed conduit (livestock barn) could pose a shock hazard but I don't see why for other buildings? No matter, too much info?

[Pootnaigle]

Ummmmmmmmmmmm I bleve duckhunter said it wuz the main panel so I am guessing the bonding screw that ties the 2 together wuznt installed correctly? Or maybe not.