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New York, 1:54 AM
Tue Nov 17
58 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #trees more →

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of NastyInThePasty NastyInThePasty
    10/26/09

    In reply to Tarzan's Making His Reservations At This Frame Hotel
    The architect in me thinks this is actually pretty cool from a purely artistic point of view, especially the black and white juxtaposition.

    But the structural engineer in me just threw up a little. #villamodagalleriesframehotel
     Reply
    Rosa Golijan promoted this comment NastyInThePasty was starred NastyInThePasty was unstarred
    Image of lonney lonney
    10/09/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    It's not hard to believe at all, reading through the comments its noted that when the line tripped the whole town lost power.

    So that line would of been up to 66kV, they are usually aluminium strands around a steel core. A tree being a good part water and with roots into the ground makes a good path to ground (ever wonder why lightning loves trees?). At those kids of voltages + the current available, there is enough potential to overcome the resistance of the tree to ground, and smoke it up real good!

    And the comment about the line resetting is also correct, the first time it tripped after first big *flash*bang* it would of attempted to reset, hence the second *flash*bang* at which point the line would of stayed tripped.

    Looked and sounded pretty real to me! Great vid!!
     Reply
    FredicvsMaximvs promoted this comment lonney was starred lonney was unstarred
    Image of rjshpd rjshpd
    10/09/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    I am a retired firefighter and I work in the electrical Industry...

    Yes this happens - I have witnessed it personally several times.

    Several Comments:

    These appear to be local distribution primaries; the voltage can be 14,000 volts line-line or more.

    The wires are not insulated. Primary distribution lines are seldom insulated. At these voltages there are not many insulators that can isolate this voltage and be even reasonably cost effective. Insulation also lowers the temperature rating of the wiring resulting in a lower current rating; this would require larger wire for the same current - thus, again, more cost. These are bare stranded wire insulated on glass or ceramic insulators.

    If you watch carefully you can see the current working its way towards the ground. At first the tree presents enough impedance, (resistance), that the current flowing through the tree does not trip the protection devices. As the heat creates a carbonized path through the tree eventually the low impedance path reaches the ground and you have the flash from the extremely high current flow followed by the reclosure trip.

    The protective safeties, (reclosure device), are designed to reconnect the circuit after a time-out period. If the short is still there it will trip again; this occurs at the end of the video. The reclosure device is designed to retry three times and then lock-out. After that they must be reset manually.

    If this was faked then it was done very close to what a real event would look like.

    The other thing not really presented by the video is that these events are really really loud. I have had co-workers get ruptured ear drums from being too close to a high energy event such as this.

    Anyway - my 2 cents.......
     Reply
    FredicvsMaximvs promoted this comment rjshpd was starred rjshpd was unstarred
    Image of Ravlen Ravlen
    10/09/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    I really find this hard to believe. I used to live in Halifax, which has literally, HUNDREDS of trees up close to the power lines.

    Look at the photo here, on the left you can just make out the power pole, going up into the trees.
    [www.timmelfabrics.com]

    I've never heard of any fires in Halifax resulting from this.

    The tree in that video is much taller than the line, why didn't it go up in flames all the previous times it was windy?

    Lastly, power lines are INSULATED! If it wasn't insulated, it would short out every time it rained. This video has clearly been faked in some way.
     Reply
    Ravlen was starred Ravlen was unstarred
    Image of Thews Thews
    10/09/09

    @Ravlen: The part about the insulation protecting it from water is a bit suspect. There would have to be a path of water to ground and those ceramic insulators that the wire runs through are designed so that doesn't happen and even then there is still leakage. Getting an electric wire wet is fine as long as it doesn't create a path to ground. Furthermore, Im not even sure that all wires are insulated.
     Reply
    Rex the Decadent promoted this comment Thews was starred Thews was unstarred
    Image of MonkeyPaw MonkeyPaw
    10/08/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    I actually work in this sector of the utility industry. What just happened was a tree coming into contact with a transmission line. What you saw was electricity attempting to find a path to ground, which is why the molten glow was heading down the trunk of the tree. Essentially, the high-resistance carbon in the tree is being turned into low-resistance graphite along this path to ground, and once that path reaches ground, you get an instant high-voltage fault, which is represented by the explosion. What you saw after the explosion was the system shutting down and attempting to re-energize, hence the second explosion. Typically, after a third try, the line remains dead. This is why you never ever ever go near downed lines or situations like these!

    Oh, and as for the fire department helping out? They couldn't do anything if they wanted to. Had they messed with the tree, they probably would have been killed by 69,000+ volts. The utility has to shut the line down to make this situation safe, which won't likely happen over the phone. People call in so many non-emergencies regarding utility lines that it makes it impossible to determine what calls are actually critical and which ones are people exaggerating to get what they want.
     Reply
    FredicvsMaximvs promoted this comment MonkeyPaw was starred MonkeyPaw was unstarred
    Image of Lizard_King Lizard_King
    10/08/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    After a day of swaying and arcing, the township got to work removing a rotten tree in my neighborhood last night. During the day, an officer was on watch to make sure no one went near the tree, until the Peco truck and tree service arrived.

    They broke out the chainsaw at 1:30am. I guess noise ordinances don't count when you have a hardhat and a township contract.
     Reply
    Lizard_King was starred Lizard_King was unstarred
    Image of robo robo
    10/08/09

    @Lizard_King: Your story lacks explosions, fire, or ironic deaths. I nearly fell asleep.
     Reply
    Lizard_King promoted this comment robo was starred robo was unstarred
    Image of Lizard_King Lizard_King
    10/09/09

    @robo: I know, right. The chainsaw noise would have kept you awake, trust me.

    I watched this video and my first thought was "Lucky". Had this happened up the street, the Fire Department. less than a block away, would have had the whole burnt tree felled in an hour.
     Reply
    Lizard_King was starred Lizard_King was unstarred
    Image of Nathan Obbards Nathan Obbards
    10/08/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    There's no way a tree could have caught on fire and gone down in a blaze of glory from power lines alone. I smell a conspiracy here. Someone knew that the tree was going to rub against that power line, so they installed incendiary devices in there to ignite the tree when it brushed the wire. Wake up sheeple! Of course the incendiary devices will be hard to find, but if you look close and hard enough, you can find evidence. Just what do they have to gain from all these lies? Do they want to go to war on power lines now?
     Reply
    Margatron promoted this comment Nathan Obbards was starred Nathan Obbards was unstarred
    Image of JackMatt JackMatt
    10/08/09

    @Nathan Obbards: I don't know.... the lines there are at less 1K Volts.... thats a lot of heat coming off when the tree makes ground. Also how did they make a incendiary devices reignite every time the power reset? and 3rd to place a device for that is a lot of work for a little video. You have to find some way of getting it in the tree right where the lines would hit it. You would need a chary picker or something. I claim real.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_IsGWaving promoted this comment JackMatt was starred JackMatt was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
    10/08/09

    @JackMatt: I can get 30 Blaze of Glory Truthers who are scientists to say you are wrong, and they found evidence of burned aluminum, which could only have come from incendiary devices.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was starred GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was unstarred
    Image of JackMatt JackMatt
    10/08/09

    @GitEmSteveDave_IsWaving: LMAO! ROFL!!!! Your wrong, the truth is it was a missile from a US war ship. :)
     Reply
    JackMatt was starred JackMatt was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
    10/09/09

    @JackMatt: That's why this video wasn't complete! When they turned, it was because the missile was inbound!
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was starred GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was unstarred
    Image of qtiphead88 qtiphead88
    10/08/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    this was in my hometown...it cut the power off for the whole town....the fire department doesn't respond to claims like this unless there is fire present...the person who called it in didn't report fire...so it just got passed onto the power company...who didn't do anything until after the fact because the person who called it in didn't give all of the necessary details...
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_IsGWaving promoted this comment qtiphead88 was starred qtiphead88 was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
    10/08/09

    @qtiphead88: More details/proof?
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was starred GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was unstarred
    Image of qtiphead88 qtiphead88
    11/14/09

    @GitEmSteveDave_HurtHisKnee: [www.bellinghamherald.com]

    look familiar

    #electrocution
     Reply
    qtiphead88 was starred qtiphead88 was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
    10/08/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    In NJ, that tree would go down in a blaze of glory.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was starred GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was unstarred
    Image of Jack of all Tirades R.O.A.C.H. Jack of all Tirades R.O.A.C.H.
    10/08/09

    @GitEmSteveDave_IsGWaving: I think it was wanted, dead or alive.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_IsGWaving promoted this comment Jack of all Tirades R.O.A.C.H. was starred Jack of all Tirades R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
    10/09/09

    @Jack of all Tirades R.O.A.C.H.: On a steel line, it fried.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was starred GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was unstarred
    Image of Avizzv92 Avizzv92
    10/08/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    (Two trees in the background watching) - "He was talking about it, but I never took him seriously."
     Reply
    Homerjay is utterly alone. promoted this comment Edited by Avizzv92 at 10/08/09 7:02 PM Avizzv92 was starred Avizzv92 was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    10/08/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    Take that, tree. Always up to no good.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of EBone EBone
    10/08/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    DPW 1, Tree 0
     Reply
    EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
    Image of Lego Addict Lego Addict
    10/08/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    i have to call shenanigans... theres no way the tree would suddenly stop being on fire only to spark up like a christmas tree in an instant.... awesome though :)
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_IsGWaving promoted this comment Edited by Lego Addict at 10/08/09 6:54 PM Lego Addict was starred Lego Addict was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
    10/08/09

    @Lego Addict: We have a call of Shenanigans!
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was starred GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was unstarred
    Image of Homerjay is utterly alone. Homerjay is utterly alone.
    10/08/09

    @Lego Addict: When the flame stopped the first time the circuit was shut down. The system is designed to send a test charge down the line after several seconds to see if the line is clear to re-start. That accounts for the second blaze.
    Your shenanigans is invalid.
     Reply
    Homerjay is utterly alone. was starred Homerjay is utterly alone. was unstarred
    Image of Nathan Obbards Nathan Obbards
    10/08/09

    @Lego Addict: Young man, you can't just go declaring Shenanigans on innocent people! That's how wars get started!
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_IsGWaving promoted this comment Nathan Obbards was starred Nathan Obbards was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked
    10/08/09

    @Homerjay is utterly alone.: Ahhh, someone else who knows that if the power doesn't come back on after 15 seconds it's probably going to be out for a while as it didn't clear the foul.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was starred GitEmSteveDave_Isn'tFreshPerked was unstarred
    Image of Lego Addict Lego Addict
    10/09/09

    @Homerjay is utterly alone.: the tree would not just stop being on fire though... which the video clearly shows. I must stand firm on my declaration of shenanigans.
     Reply
    Lego Addict was starred Lego Addict was unstarred
    Image of PurpleMonkeyDishwasher: PurpleMonkeyDishwasher:
    10/08/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    They happened to be there with a video camera when this happened?
     Reply
    Homerjay is utterly alone. promoted this comment PurpleMonkeyDishwasher: was starred PurpleMonkeyDishwasher: was unstarred
    Image of Homerjay is utterly alone. Homerjay is utterly alone.
    10/08/09

    @PurpleMonkeyDishwasher: : You may be on to something. I'll bet they erected a 50' wide fan just out of frame to blow the tree into the power lines. That clearly makes more sense.
     Reply
    Homerjay is utterly alone. was starred Homerjay is utterly alone. was unstarred
    Image of Margatron Margatron
    10/08/09

    In reply to Tree Electrocutes Itself on Power Lines, Goes Down in a Ball of Fire
    You can HEAR the electricity! Call the fire department, doofus!
     Reply
    Margatron was starred Margatron was unstarred
    Image of Homerjay is utterly alone. Homerjay is utterly alone.
    10/08/09

    @Margatron: Why?? That would end the awesomeness!
     Reply
    Homerjay is utterly alone. was starred Homerjay is utterly alone. was unstarred
    Image of Margatron Margatron
    10/08/09

    @Homerjay is utterly alone.: Well, you have a point. But I'd be freaking out if that was my house right there.

    So sad, the tree must've been jealous of the phone pole.
     Reply
    Margatron was starred Margatron was unstarred
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