Will be off line for awhile...


Thanks guys and yep all is well, until the next time that is. Why do I say "until the next time"? Well, I can now tell you what happened and how it started; although, it might turn into a bitch about electric companies and their apathetic attitude toward preventative maintenance!

The cause of the fire was a tree branch that came down across a line and snapped it. Live wires plus dry under growth equals fire, pure and simple. Electric companies around here do absolutely nothing in the way of keeping tree branches clear of their lines, nothing at all. As such, this is bound to happen again, perhaps not around us, but it will happen some where and next time, it may not end as well as it did for us :(

 
wombat457 said:
Electric companies around here
Click to expand...
What is the structure of the electric companies there? Are they CO-OPs, government owned, or genuine independent companies? My mountain property is on a CO-OP, here in Denver it is a genuine company, and in St. John & Stafford Kansas the cities provide the power. We sometimes have the opposite problem, the electric company comes in just whacking everything willy-nilly. They cut branches off a 100 year old tree in such a way that it became lop sided and the next high wind in the same direction took it down. Its branches they cut were more than 20 feet from the wires BEFORE they started whacking.
 
Horseman,

Our company is State (NYSEG) and they are, and have always been, indifferent to their customers.

As you said though, it can go the other way where companies go crazy and do way more than is necessary. My opinion is that where a power line, or telephone line, runs through the bush, there should be a 15 or 20 foot clearing either side of the line. Not only will that prevent smaller branches that may fall from bringing lines down BUT it will also give the company clear access to their lines in the event that something does go astray. Around here, power lines literally run "through trees", and that is the hazard and what needs to be addressed.

The obvious and ideal fix for such things is for all power to run under ground like it does in other countries.
 
Here in Nebraska there are no independent power companies. Every electrical company is owned by a municipality. By law. They do a good job of keeping limbs away from power lines. We have some of the lowest electric rates in the country because there is no profit motive involved. And if they don't do their job, they are going to answer to the voters, by way of the mayor.
http://nepower.org/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top