Power Poles on Fire in Texas

I'm kind of stumped on this,Unless there is copper thrives involved. I can't be sure but these poles look like kind of old ,and most likely up to 25 thousands volts only.

Some of these old grid poles have copper conductors going down them for a ground, also the copper is used to terminate the netrual phase on the grid , every so many poles, miles etc. I'm. Not sure how the Texas grid is set up.

If someone stole all the copper grounds and termination from these old poles then you will have some problems, fires from no ground fault conductors, melting power conductors, due to overloading etc. All will result with a fire of some kind.

New Mexico state police caught a person removing the copper runs going down some old poles. ( 35 poles) His pick up truck was loaded with old copper ground lines. PNM shut down that small grind. They were old poles that used copper for the ground and terminations. One day someone is going to cut one at the same time the copper ground is energized. Poof! Copper was used on older poles to send the current from the neutral phase to the ground during a storm. Other than it provides a balance in current and still is energized, because older homes are not really balanced at there power panel and left over current goes neutral. Sort of speak.

The new terminations are aluminum, but many of the old wood poles still use copper to ground and terminate. Aluminum poles are better and cheaper, the pole acts as the termination if you need it.
Static and dust, the conditions have to be just right to get combustion. It's happened before, more in coastal cities though. But middle Texas?
copper theft utility poles

reply to post by SJE98


A Ha!

If someone stole all the copper grounds and termination from these old poles then you will have some problems, fires from no ground fault conductors, melting power conductors, due to overloading etc. All will result with a fire of some kind.

Ground wires Overhead power lines are often equipped with a ground conductor (shield wire or overhead earth wire). A ground conductor is a conductor that is usually grounded (earthed) at the top of the supporting structure to minimize the likelihood of direct lightning strikes to the phase conductors. The ground wire is also a parallel path with the earth for fault currents in earthed neutral circuits. Very high-voltage transmission lines may have two ground conductors. These are either at the outermost ends of the highest cross beam, at two V-shaped mast points, or at a separate cross arm. Older lines may use surge arrestors every few spans in place of a shield wire; this configuration is typically found in the more rural areas of the United States. By protecting the line from lightning, the design of apparatus in substations is simplified due to lower stress on insulation.

en.wikipedia.org...

Just a possibility.

Originally posted by Romanian
Solar activity is below average, so we can exclude it.

Awwww NO................... solar activity has been on the RISE... as well as earthquakes (2.8 eastern Texas 9 hrs ago)

See data below:

quakes.globalincidentmap.com...

www.sidc.be...

Really interesting thread OP star and flagged.

I just wanted to add this video by a youtube user that correlates global information taken about Earth weather patterns to geological events, and solar activity. He also provides links to the information he presents. I didn't see this particular vid posted yet. I hope it's not a repeat. Apologies if it is.

This video is for December 6th.

3MIN News December 6, 2012



Sorry I forgot how to embed..haven't posted in ages!

Originally posted by ManBehindTheMask
reply to post by milominderbinder

 

Likewise, to cause a short and/or surge THAT powerful would take an ENORMOUS amount of electricity. Remember...the wood is SUPPOSED to be DAMP already due to all that "low lying fog"...so it shouldn't be very flammable...RIGHT?

Unless the poles are coated in creosote which many are, especially if they are older, that stuff is very flammable.......I use to work on power lines.......

I can tell you that depending on where they are located and situated, if something happened at a power station and the failsafes didnt kick in it could cause a surge in a string and burn down poles for miles......

also if there is enough dirt around insulators etc, a fog could cause it to track due to the moisture and set the poles on fire

Ill have to research more , i do find it interesting that it seems to have happend in multiple locations

edit on 7-12-2012 by ManBehindTheMask because: (no reason given)

Right...just like I said. Low lying fog DOESN'T cause power poles to burn down or grid failure. Although...it should be noted...cutting corners on failsafes and failing to maintain your infrastructure CERTAINLY can do just that.

I'm not saying it space aliens or ghosts....I'm just saying that the "it was foggy" excuse is ludicrous.

Originally posted by trinityalways
Awwww NO................... solar activity has been on the RISE... as well as earthquakes (2.8 eastern Texas 9 hrs ago)

There was just another 2.8 mag in West Texas about 30 minutes ago that appears to be about the same distance from Dallas as the East one, on the other side. So all this that happened yesterday would be between where the 2 quakes today took place.

I'm guessing this one is uncommon like the one earlier, and if it is fracking its pretty coincidental to have 2 fracking related quakes on the same day, same depth, same mag.

Abit to coincidental..

My God. Wars, rumors of wars and power poles on fire. We are doomed!

I did a little research and noticed lots of other weird phenomenon happening on the same day in Texas...

UFO sightings:

x-u-f-o.blogspot.ca...

www.ufosnw.com...

www.ufostalker.com...< br />
ufodisclosurecountdownclock.blogspot.ca... (UFO avoiding plane)

www.realufos.net... (Cover story)


Loud booms and tremors also, not just in Texas but in surrounding areas as well:

theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com...

www.examiner.com...

And the following day, the meteorite type flashes:

www.firstpost.com...

houston.culturemap.com...
theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com...

Just thought I would share.

edit on 8-12-2012 by ArchaicDesigns because: Spellin

Originally posted by kdog1982
reply to post by SJE98

 

A Ha!

If someone stole all the copper grounds and termination from these old poles then you will have some problems, fires from no ground fault conductors, melting power conductors, due to overloading etc. All will result with a fire of some kind.

Ground wires Overhead power lines are often equipped with a ground conductor (shield wire or overhead earth wire). A ground conductor is a conductor that is usually grounded (earthed) at the top of the supporting structure to minimize the likelihood of direct lightning strikes to the phase conductors. The ground wire is also a parallel path with the earth for fault currents in earthed neutral circuits. Very high-voltage transmission lines may have two ground conductors. These are either at the outermost ends of the highest cross beam, at two V-shaped mast points, or at a separate cross arm. Older lines may use surge arrestors every few spans in place of a shield wire; this configuration is typically found in the more rural areas of the United States. By protecting the line from lightning, the design of apparatus in substations is simplified due to lower stress on insulation.

en.wikipedia.org...

Just a possibility.

If it were this simple then why didn't just come out and say this rather than telling us it was fog and dust?

reply to post by SJE98


I believe that the missing piece you are all looking for is Anaconda Copper
BUT AS USUAL HERE ON ATS IT WILL BE IGNORED.

Many times here on ATS i have provided pieces that i feel are important to the overall picture.

Anaconda= Snake or serpernt
Anaconda connects the following
The Rothschilds
The Rockefellers
Copper Collars
ARCO
BP

It goes way deep and considering the amount of information that i have shared with you all yet still, baring in mind the reasons as to why you joined ATS? it still falls on deaf ears,........

This is the reason / one of the reasons why war is so damn important.
Call yourselves conspiracy theorists? Then investigate, keep digging. You are all sat with all of the information in front of you.

reply to post by SJE98

Originally posted by SJE98
New Mexico state police caught a person removing the copper runs going down some old poles. ( 35 poles) His pick up truck was loaded with old copper ground lines.

Link? I found quite a few hits on google... but nothing specifically from NM.

That's so wrong.... tampering with the infrastructure. I hope that he doesn't just get arrested... maybe for terrorism, as he is putting lives in danger by that... but that he also gets sued for all the lost business, the cost of replacing the equipment, the schools that had to cancel classes due to losing their electricity.... etc, people late to work and losing jobs because of that, or because they smell (funny, but serious)... What a mess.

Originally posted by Rezlooper
If it were this simple then why didn't just come out and say this rather than telling us it was fog and dust?

Maybe the police and power company didn't want to give shady folks any "ideas". Copper theft is a HUGE problem nowdays and a lot of people are stealing it left and right to scrap it for money- the price of copper is high. Maybe they are afraid if something like that was public info it would create an even bigger problem.

Originally posted by Rezlooper
If it were this simple then why didn't just come out and say this rather than telling us it was fog and dust?

Fog/dust is the new smoke/mirrors.

I agree with littled16 if this was because of copper theft officials aren't going to advertise the fact that copper can be gleaned from old telephone poles in Texas.

I was getting a little worried. I'm in rural southern CO, tons of old poles/dust here not to mention the extreme fire danger. I'm hoping there's not more to this than copper theft.

reply to post by Morningglory


Okay, that makes sense. Good point.

reply to post by Rezlooper


Maybe the fog was cover (or maybe a component) of EM weapons testing.Could a charge have gone UP the poles from the copper ground cable? That light show video I reposted (on an ATS thread) sure seemed to suggest to me Texas has some *ineresting* (to say the least ) electrical phenomenon occurring, but then again it appears to me to be radically increasing all around the globe.

reply to post by new_here

My dad is a nuclear engineer, only Texas in the US and Quebec in Canada have closed separate grids, partially due to protectionism and the fact that they're expecting both to break from the countries they are apart of!

Originally posted by drdocumentary
reply to post by new_here

 

My dad is a nuclear engineer, only Texas in the US and Quebec in Canada have closed separate grids, partially due to protectionism and the fact that they're expecting both to break from the countries they are apart of!

Cool, thanks for the info, Your-Dad!

Originally posted by SJE98
I'm kind of stumped on this,Unless there is copper thrives involved. I can't be sure but these poles look like kind of old ,and most likely up to 25 thousands volts only.

Some of these old grid poles have copper conductors going down them for a ground, also the copper is used to terminate the netrual phase on the grid , every so many poles, miles etc. I'm. Not sure how the Texas grid is set up.

If someone stole all the copper grounds and termination from these old poles then you will have some problems, fires from no ground fault conductors, melting power conductors, due to overloading etc. All will result with a fire of some kind.

New Mexico state police caught a person removing the copper runs going down some old poles. ( 35 poles) His pick up truck was loaded with old copper ground lines. PNM shut down that small grind. They were old poles that used copper for the ground and terminations. One day someone is going to cut one at the same time the copper ground is energized. Poof! Copper was used on older poles to send the current from the neutral phase to the ground during a storm. Other than it provides a balance in current and still is energized, because older homes are not really balanced at there power panel and left over current goes neutral. Sort of speak.

The new terminations are aluminum, but many of the old wood poles still use copper to ground and terminate. Aluminum poles are better and cheaper, the pole acts as the termination if you need it.
Static and dust, the conditions have to be just right to get combustion. It's happened before, more in coastal cities though. But middle Texas?
copper theft utility poles

edit on 7-12-2012 by SJE98 because: (no reason given)

edit on 7-12-2012 by SJE98 because: (no reason given)

edit on 7-12-2012 by SJE98 because: (no reason given)

edit on 7-12-2012 by SJE98 because: (no reason given)

I'm in New Mexico....no wonder my electricity keeps going out. Usually we lose it because of high winds, but lately it seems it goes out for no reason...no wind, snow or rain.

I do apologise for not reading every post if this question has already been asked, but what was the ambient temperature when this happened? And was the power grid heavily loaded?

The exact same thing happened here in South Australia during a heatwave - turns out that people were drawing so much current from the grid running their air conditioners that the lines were overheating and the insulation on them was catching fire. Luckily our poles are made from steel and concrete here so they themselves did not catch fire but from what I saw here in Adelaide, it would not be difficult to imagine poles burning like that.

You need some understanding of the different levels of the 'grid' to see that these events will not amount to a failure of the system, just some very small portions of it at the distribution level which is the lowest so instability is extremely unlikely and the only result is groups of disgruntled customers who are blacked out while the poles are replaced. A grid 'collapse' is more likely when the fault is at the top level (transmission at EHV like 200kV or higher but these lines are erected on metal towers and incorporate very sensitive and fast earth leakage protection. The next level down is the subtransmission system which is also extensively protected with similar construction (on a smaller scale) to the transmission system and so just as unlikely to catch fire.

The faults reported occurred on the HV distribution level which operates at 10-30kV (called 'feeders') and it's economical to construct these on wood poles hence the risk of an occasional pole fire which happens more often than you might expect.

The fires mentioned by the SA (South Oz) member above are a consequence of attempts to protect against some trigger happy types who like to shoot at the porcelain insulators. Plastic insulators have been trialled in some places as they can suffer a hole or 2 from rifle bullets without failing structurally but plastics do have temperature limits which is not a concern with ceramics. If the lines were hot enough to ignite the plastic, the conductors must have had some serious sag (wouldn't want to be located immediately under the conductors). You have the most voracious termites over there which is why the poles are steel & concrete.

The 'grid' is operated so that any credible single failure will not result in overloading of any other part of the system and this is achieved by actively managing generation patterns. That control is only at the highest transmission level and HV distribution feeders pretty much are left to fend for themselves under all conditions with only overcurrent and earth fault protection to save them, and periodic 'load surveys' to monitor load growth and allow planning of additional feeder construction.