Something tells me when there is a fire at the top of the utility pole it probably isn’t a good idea to stand under the power lines as these citizens were doing. But they came for a show at the corner of West McMillan Street and Stratford Avenue (no date given) and the burning transformer and the Cincinnati Fire Department didn’t disappoint. At about 3:40 in the clip the firefighters begin to apply water and then get a standing ovation.
Also on STATter911 …
- Pre-arrival video: Three-alarm fire at Canadian Tire garden center in Toronto. – September 25, 2012
- Two civilian would-be rescuers electrocuted, cop & 5 others shocked after SUV wreck in Los Angeles. Hydrant sheared & power lines downed. – August 23, 2012
- Hurricane Sandy – Wind, Water & Fire: Must see videos as the the crane folds, structures crumble, trees topple & buildings burn. – October 30, 2012
- Did you hear the one about the cat, the Doritos bag, the utililty pole & the firefighters? It really happened in St. Petersburg, Florida. – April 29, 2012
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CFD Engine 19 (Unit 1)
10-26-10
Thanks.
wtf was the purpose of that? Sheer stupidity. Any firefighter with even half a brain would leave that alone until power was disconnected
I have to agree was there any point in water application
They were using a special Cincinnati water.
Lucky Water… more like it… some lucky FF and bystanders for sure.. Though it seems like it was at secondary height on pole rater than Primary.
electricity + water = bad idea
what fire school did these guys go to ??
Cincinnati fire school!!!
If an officer gave them the go ahead to apply water that officer should be DEMOTED. What a pack of idiots.
This is what happens when you put paramedics on the engine for a day!
I’m certainly no Grumpy Dispatcher, but I think what they did was safe.
A 40ft long broken stream of fresh water conducts a lot less than you think, as evidenced by this video.
yea no doubt, if that primary line would have arced.. there would have been dead firefighters on camera!! cmon guys! that was just stupid!
looking at the pole that wasn’t a transformer on fire it was capacitor bank. not a good tactic to apply straight streams to electrical equipment on fire
I’m pretty sure that this ranks up there with one of the most ignorant operations I have seen in awhile.
C’mon fellas, haven’t you heard of a “Cincinatti bowtie”…what about Cincinatti chili? Everything is backwards in Cincinatti.
Risk vs. Benefit! What did they save? Mrs. Smith I regret to inform you that your husband died today because no one on scene had a single brain cell. WTF!
Wow. Talk about stupid. You never, ever, apply water to charged electrical equipment like that. Never! They teach you that in firefighting 101!
Firemutt says:
What did they save?
Nothing. Power company will replace the pole, wires, insulators transformer\capacitor bank\whatever.
The least they could have done was use a fog pattern, reduce the likelihood of arcing a little.
It’s called a Cincinnati bowtie because everything is backwards and upside down in Cincinnati.
sounds like the death penalty is alive in Cincinutty
I can tell you they are not the only company in the US that puts themselves in harms way. That is a trash fire, the difference in this trash fire it has primary voltage going thru it. There is no firefighter in this country that should put water on wires or any other electrical component. I reflect back where the fog pattern was recommended, the problem with that if any part of the stream is broken, another line charged, discharge opened or loss of pressure it is enough to make the situation unsafe in the blink of an eye and allow the energy to come back the hoseline. This is not a slam on anyone. Think before you react your life depends on it.
Part 2 Anon if you would like I can forward you a video where the same stream is applied is safe, a gated wye is opened and they get 50 plus milliamps thru a firefighter. That is with secondary voltage.
Immediately after this video ended, the firefighters involved each pulled a pair of scissors from their coats and ran as fast as they could back to their Engine.
The electric chair typically killed at 1800-2200 VAC and 6-8 A. The “low voltage” (relative to electrical distribution systems) primary lines that were feeding that transformer run in the range of 3 phase (carried on all three primary lines), 7200-7800 VAC with a potential of the distribution of megawatts of energy, well over 100 A. It only takes 0.1 A across the heart to cause V. Fib.
And don’t forget about the high amount of UV radiation that is coming from the arcs. You could fry your corneas and retinas staring at the arcs at a close distance for a long period of time, just like looking at an arc welder.
Just somethings to keep in mind.
Hey, which window was his old bedroom again? Sheesh!