ReplyThey're lucky to be alive.
Wonder where they will get a new job at.
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Atlanta-area TV station WSB had an unexpected emergency Wednesday as one of their live broadcast vehicles struck a powerline. Operators of the truck forgot to lower the large telescopic antenna on the roof and the object became entangled in the active wires above. Two employees of the station, both inside the truck at the time, were hospitalized after an explosion and fire ripped through the vehicle. In the video below, you'll see the aftermath of this shocking incident.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSW53lSWve4
God Speed, Jim. We'll miss you - 2-26-23
They're lucky to be alive.
Wonder where they will get a new job at.
Professional Member
i think something like this i quite common with those...i have herd several other stories similar to this but it was wile raising the mast that they get the big shock.
Regular Guest
The voltage must have been high enough to jump over, and flatten, the tires [which should have insulated the truck].
If the tires held, and the people got out while they were still touching the truck, the current would have gone through them.
You'd think the truck would have an ignition interlock or dashboard warning indicator to prevent this sort of thing. It's a few dollars, to prevent property damage and personal injury.
I think the concrete shattered because the lighting vaporized moisture within the pavement; same reason trees can explode when hit - the sap turns to steam instantly.
God Speed, Jim. We'll miss you - 2-26-23
They might have had static chains on that trunk.
An interlock should be required on them.
Regular Guest
Does Workman's Comp cover Operator Error?
God Speed, Jim. We'll miss you - 2-26-23
Probably not in all states.
Professional Member
As for the driving interlocks that beenthere suggested a ENG safety site I found after reading this posting was saying that while they are installed upon delivery when the trucks come back for warrenty work the supplers find them bypassed or gone all together.
Even the prox sensors to keep the masts from going up near HV lines have been bypassed so the crews would not have to walk from a safe area to the news scene.
Something to do with the pressure on the field crews to get the story uplinked back to the station even if the truck is not in the safest place so the anchor can say "breaking news just in live local and first" before the next station does.
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BEHIND THE AT!Originally Posted by beenthere
When I was a kid 16 or 17 I spent a lot of time at an auto parts store. One day I walked outside right behind the guy that emptied the trash container. Apparently he had hooked one of the three phase lines on the transformer with the hydraulic arms. He must have jumped out of the truck when he got out because when he grabbed the door handle to get back in he got fried, man what a nasty smelly mess.
Regular Guest
And here I thought only managers bypass safety stuff, since they are not the ones whose safety will be compromised.
Economists have curves for 'the cost of safety' in dollars or productivity hours, vs accident rate, so you can knowledgeably trade off safety for productivity.
I don't think anyone reads them. It would take away their 'plausible deniability."
BTW, did the "smelly mess" die? Did he wish he was dead, later?
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once in a while i run crane for my friend. a couple years ago i was leaving a job site and the boom caught the power lines. down they go along with two poles. i did not get out of the truck until after the third time they sparked. luckely just a few weeks prior i learned they try to reset three times before a breaker blows. the power co. wanted to sue me but it turnes out the lines were too low.BEHIND THE AT!
When I was a kid 16 or 17 I spent a lot of time at an auto parts store. One day I walked outside right behind the guy that emptied the trash container. Apparently he had hooked one of the three phase lines on the transformer with the hydraulic arms. He must have jumped out of the truck when he got out because when he grabbed the door handle to get back in he got fried, man what a nasty smelly mess.
Professional Member*
Yes he died, his hands were blown off his feet were blown off and the soles of his boots were left laying on the ground. I was the first person to see him, in fact I was less than twenty feet behind him when it happened. It was a very ugly sight.
Regular Guest
Electrical amputation. The current must have been enormous.
The elec. chair supplies 4A to 8A and it doesn't dismember people.
Professional Member*
7200v 3 phase before the step down transformer, the store had a machine shop that worked on 460v 3 phase.
When I was 19 I worked for a large A/C company and we had a guy get killed on a side job. He was an installer or beginner tech and trying to do side work at an apartment project. For some reason he walked up to a primary transformer 7200v (one of those green boxes), the padlock was missing. He opened it up and reached in bare handed to pull out a fuse. Needless to say he was fried; again his hand and feet were blown out not off just the fingers and toes. His rubber soled shoes were melted to the ground and were left on the ground in front of the transformer. The company sent all of us over to see the result to impress us on the power of electricity. It took this poor guy three days to die he was a real mess.
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Many years ago across the street from our shop they were trimming branches back. The boom of the bucket truck came into contact with power lines. The truck exploded and was burning and the power was still on and in contact with the boom. The poor guys in the bucket were frozen in place watching the truck burn. They thought they would be safe in the bucket, they were … that is until it started to melt. So they had to make a choice, stay and maybe things would be OK or jump. They jumped, it was about twenty feet, both ended up not being hurt to much. We went over and looked at the truck and it was cooked completely and the metal had started to melt before the power finally failed. Oh, the bucket melted to a long blob, good thing they jumped.
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"Nothing else can poison our culture, corrupt our society or ruin the character of our people like unearned money or unearned opportunity." -- James R. Cook
"Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody will use it, ever." Thomas Edison, 1889.
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A guy (electrician) I did work with got blasted once, he was up on a ladder inside a building. The security camera got the whole thing on film. There was a flash and then you see his body fly across the room in the air and hit the opposite wall about ten feet up. He was in the hospital for a few weeks and then it took about a year for him to recover. He had to learn how to walk and talk … and who knows what else all over. He was fine after that. I don’t know or most likely forgot how much power there was that got him, he was and is a very careful guy, sometimes you just get bit.
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"Nothing else can poison our culture, corrupt our society or ruin the character of our people like unearned money or unearned opportunity." -- James R. Cook
"Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody will use it, ever." Thomas Edison, 1889.
Regular Guest
That is some nasty stuff.
I worked in electronics, so all we did was fry equipment once in a while.
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