Power Line Causes A Blazing Street Fire
Jul 27, 2010 19:48 - 4 Comments
When the power line was knocked down by a tree last Sunday on West Argyle Street, the road surface burned 10 feet into the air. After the power went off, the line dangled in the middle of the road. Although yellow tape had been placed around the hazard, it was eventually removed. Cars were making their way down the street.
Last night at 12:28 AM, Pepco restored power to the street, including the downed power line. The fire started all over again. Flames shot into the air. The asphalt turned to liquid. The cement curb even burned. Firefighters watched until the power could be turned off but the street continued to burn for a while.
Fortunately, no one was near the line when the power surged back on. Because someone had removed the caution tape, anyone could have been in the area. Even if it seems like a downed line has no power, use caution. At any moment, electricity could fling the live wire around and electrocute anyone in the vicinity.
Unfortunately, Pepco flipped the switch on a much larger area and several hundred homes along Monroe, Blandford, West Lynfield, and Cabin John were thrown into the dark in order to stop the fire. This example illustrates the enormity of the problems Pepco is facing while trying to return power to all 240,000 customers who were originally left in the dark by the storm. One power line with a problem on a side street reverses progress to hundreds of locations.
The power line is still on fire 12 hours later.
As the power outage continues, the temptation is to return to our usual routines. But if a power line dangles, make sure everyone knows and keep the area blocked off to traffic.
I had no idea a road could burn. With the windows open the foul-smelling smoke was horrendous to breathe all night.
Returning by foot from Town Center Monday evening, we reached the intersection of S. Washington and Argyle Sts. in growing darkness at about 8:30 pm and encountered the yellow police tape strung across Argyle St. Just then an auto coming from Monroe St. drove through the intersection and the tape, which slid over the roof of the auto. Immediately, the auto hit and passed the wire hanging down in about mid-street just past the intersection. The driver stopped about 50 feet past the wire and backed up, apparently because of both the wire-slap and another tape across the street ahead. The wire snared the auto on the first try, but the driver pulled ahead and then, on the second try, maneuvered past it, backed to the intersection, and left the area via S. Washington St. Immediately, another auto approached from Monroe St. and screeched to a stop just short of the tape.
My observation: that thin tape barrier was completely inadequate in the dark, especially given the potentially hazardous condition. Sure, drivers need to be aware and cautious, but safety measures need take into account that they aren’t always. We are only happy that it wasn’t a wire; we were standing right next to it.
This afternoon (Tuesday), I walked through the area again, and it was fairly clear to me that a large branch had come down on the wire. Looking up, I could see other large branches hanging over the street (and, of course, over the wires).
Aren’t most of the area’s power outages caused by falling branches and trees breaking power lines? Who is responsible for trimming the trees that cause these disruptive and expensive power outages? If it’s the power company, then criticism of the power company for the outages and the extended repair time is warranted. But in all cases, whether trimming is the duty of the power company, the city, or homeowners, the city would seem to be responsible to making sure it gets done.
Thanks for letting us know what happened Ken. I can’t believe you were at the scene!. You are right about the tape on dark streets at night. It may not have been visible. After such a bad storm, drivers deciding to cut through dark, tree-lined streets should go extremely slow, expecting the worst.
I checked Pepco’s line clearance program and found the following:
http://www.pepco.com/home/emergency/veg/trees/default.aspx
“The types of trees along our primary distribution lines in residential areas generally need pruning every two to five years. This is routine pruning. Asplundh, our tree pruning contractor, prunes every tree that could potentially come in contact with power lines or other electrical equipment. The goal is to maintain and deliver safe and reliable electric service to our customers by minimizing outages caused by trees.
Storm Hardening
Some areas along Pepco’s system are impacted more by storms than other areas. These are areas that have large tree growth well above the electric system and require more than routine pruning. Our storm hardening project focuses on lines most susceptible to damage from trees during a storm to keep them clear of trees that could cause outages.
Maintenance
Maintenance on the system goes beyond routine tree pruning. It includes assisting in the restoration efforts after a storm as well as providing assistance to public and private property owners with the removal of hazardous trees near power lines.
Rights-of-Way
Pepco maintains rights-of-way. These are areas on which power lines run. On all rights-of-way, Pepco generally mows the land beneath the high-voltage lines and from edge to edge of the rights-of-way every four to five years to prevent trees and other vegetation from growing up into the high-voltage transmission and distribution lines.”
Of course, only small trees, such as dogwood or crabapple, should be planted along the street by the power lines. Our older neighborhoods have large trees which will continue to cause a problem until they are gone.
I’ve found the City to be very responsive about requests for tree-trimming (of City trees that is). You can submit a service request through the City of Rockville website, or by phone. I think Parks and Rec is responsible for tree care.
The Recreation and Parks Department uses tree services hired through a competitive bidding process to trim trees at various parks, facilities, City rights-of-way and State rights-of-way throughout the City. The crews are contracted to provide emergency operations 365 days a year, 24-hours a day.