A team from Mountain View Electric Association provided training on downed electrical lines to firefighters from the Peyton, Calhan, Falcon, Black Forest and Ellicott districts. Peyton hosted the Aug. 4 training session.MVEA’s Mike Fields, Andrew Easler and Daniel Witt brought a trailer to the training site and demonstrated several life-threatening situations that can occur with electrical lines.”We have the trailer today because of an incident that happened several years ago,” Witt said. A car hit an electrical pole and when the MVEA crew arrived on the scene, a live electric line was draped over the car and someone was about to try to get the driver out. Fortunately, the team arrived in time to prevent the Good Samaritan from being electrocuted.When the situation is similar, Witt said people should remain in the car. “If the line is ‘hot’ and the people step out of the car, they will be electrocuted,” he said. Firefighters should tell the occupants to stay in the car, and they should then set up a perimeter around the car to keep onlookers away until a MVEA crew arrives.”You always have to remember that electricity follows the path of least resistance, and it travels at the speed of light – 186,000 miles per second,” Witt said.Witt talked about using generators when the electricity goes out. Homeowners should never connect a generator directly to the electrical panel, he said. “If you do and a lineman is working on the line, that lineman may be electrocuted by electricity from your generator. You need to install a two-way disconnect,” Witt said.”If you see a line blown down on a snow bank, chances are the line is hot, and snow is a great conductor of electricity.”Witt also cautioned firefighters about materials that normally don’t conduct electricity but become conductive when they are wet. Tires are normally non-conductive, but if they are wet or caked in dirt, they can be conductive, especially if they are steel-belted, he said.Kite string is normally non-conductive, but if it’s wet or dirty, it, too, can be conductive. “If you have a kite string dangling from an electrical line, call MVEA,” Witt said. There is no charge, he said.Witt also discussed trees. While wood is non-conductive, the sap in wood is a good conductor, he said, adding that MVEA will trim trees that are near power lines – again at no charge.Is a tingling sensation in the feet a good indicator that a line touching the ground is hot, asked Jim Fraas, Peyton’s interim fire chief. While the tingling sensation is an indicator of a hot line, tingling may not always be felt, especially if the ground is dry, Witt said. “If you don’t feel tingling, don’t assume that the line is not hot.”Whenever people call to report an electrical problem, Witt said they should give the operator as much information about the problem as they can. The operators forward the information to the repair crew; the more information they have, the quicker the resolve.When the electricity does go out, call MVEA, Witt said. “Don’t assume that your neighbor has called,” he added. “The more calls we get, the better we can figure out the location of the problem.”
