Tips to Avoid Electrocution: Fallen Electrical Wires and Their Hazards

Several years ago we had a really heavy snowfall in this area and power was out all over. My brother James' power was out and while at home and with no power he was listening to a battery powered radio to get news and information. At the same time one of his kids was showering and using the last of the hot water. Stepping out of the shower the youngster looked through the window and noticed something strange going on. My brother had also noticed something odd as well. The battery powered radio had begun emitting a loud buzz of noise just moments before the kid in the bathroom had looked out of the window. The youngster came out and told my brother that the dog was melting.

My brother happened to be an electrician and things suddenly clicked into place in his mind. That buzz was a sixty cycle buzz. The dog was chained to a fence railing. A power line was down! He tugged on some insulated boots he used in his work and went outside to see what was happening. In his yard was a utility pole. And the line leading to that pole had fallen and the wire was pumping 7500 volts of electrical power directly into the ground outside of his house. By the time he got out there the snow had melted away from the area of the pole and the earth was steaming. The pole itself was beginning to burn. And the dog really had melted. It had been chained to a metal fence railing. The electrical current had completed a circuit through it's body and the metal chain collar around it's neck had cooked into it's flesh.

The electrical current was flowing right into the ground and if you know anything about electricity then you also know that every appliance in your home is also connected to ground by way of the grounding rod located directly outside your breaker box. The power was entering the house through the back door as it were. The heat pump was on fire. The satellite dish had a glowing nimbus of energy surrounding it and the breaker box was smoking and spitting out molten metal and melted plastic and beginning to burn.

Someone driving by had seen the smoke and called the fire department. James is now in his earthen floor basement attempting to put out the fire in the breaker box by throwing sand, dirt and mud on the flames. In a moment of throwing dirt his bare head brushed an metal exhaust pipe for the furnace and he was instantly rendered unconscious from a flare of energy going through his body. Awakening moments later he heard the fire department pump truck arriving on the scene with sirens blaring. Realizing their danger he rushed out and prevented the men from beginning to spray the house with water. Which would have instantly killed them as the power would have arced through the jet of water and through their bodies the same way it did the dog.

Working with the fire department James was able to lift the fallen wire clear of the ground until the power company could arrive and reattach the line. They showed up and cut the power before raising the wire back into position. They had no answer as to why the automatic cut off safeties had not kicked out rendering the line powerless when it shorted out against the ground. Apparently power had been restored and the sudden surge had burned the wire in half. The still energized wire had fallen and with auto safeties not working the power had no where to go except into the earth, and thus into James' house.

My brother was a mess. Most of his pants legs were burned off from the sparks and molten fragments being ejected from the breaker box. His eyesight was temporarily affected from the welding arc bright flashes from the box as metal flashed to incandescence. He had second degree burns on his hands and legs as well. His breaker box would have to be replaced as would many of the electric appliances in his home. The tv's, microwave,clocks, heat pump and other items were a total loss.

The power company cut a check to compensate for the expense of replacing his household items and things returned to normal around his home.

This was a harrowing experience for my brother and he reported having nightmares for some time after wards. His experience outlines the power of electricity and what it can do when it is not properly controlled and confined to it's rightful place.

If you ever encounter a fallen line. Do not approach it. Do not drive over it. And keep others from coming near it. Report the line to the power company with all speed. There is enough power in those lines to kill you instantly. You would never even see the flash as your clothing caught fire.