Posted on 08/28/2023 4:12:03 AM PDT by george76
In the first moments of the Maui fires, when high winds brought down power poles, slapping electrified wires to the dry grass below, there was a reason the flames erupted all at once in long, neat rows — those wires were bare, uninsulated metal that could spark on contact...
those wires were among miles of line that Hawaiian Electric Co. left naked to the weather and often-thick foliage, despite a recent push by utilities in other wildfire- and hurricane-prone areas to cover up their lines or bury them.
Compounding the problem is that many of the utility’s 60,000, mostly wooden power poles, which its own documents described as built to “an obsolete 1960s standard,” were leaning and near the end of their projected lifespan.
...
It’s “very unlikely” a fully-insulated cable would have sparked and caused a fire in dry vegetation...
wire that was insulated would not have arced and sparked, igniting a line of flame.
....
a former member of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission confirmed many of Maui’s wooden power poles were in poor condition. Jennifer Potter lives in Lahaina
...
power poles. They were skinny, bending, bowing. The power went out all the time.”
...
This was a “preventable tragedy of epic proportions
...
Hawaiian Electric also faces criticism for not shutting off the power amid high wind warnings and keeping it on even as dozens of poles began to topple. Maui County sued Hawaiian Electric on Thursday over this issue.
...
Other utilities have been addressing the issue of bare wire. Pacific Gas & Electric was found responsible for the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California that killed 85 people.
The disaster was caused by downed power lines.
program to eliminate uninsulated wire in fire zones has covered more than 1,200 miles of line .
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Green does BURN MONEY
Not cut off power to the entire island - just the active fire areas.
The fire department also should have left people with a fire truck with water (not empty) to watch the hot embers from an extinguished fire - from a previously fallen power line - they should turn off that line, too.
Don't have a clue as to the cost but since there are homes built there, I assume that the water and sewage pipes are built under ground {lava rock}, so it can be done.
How much longer does it take to find and fix a faulted underground cable?
It doesn't take any longer to find the outage, {that is evident by lack of power to certain homes} and while it might be a little longer to fix, since they are buried, the outages are less frequent.
Are you willing to pay 10-20 times your current bill?
My electric bill is the exact same as on a usage basis, as is any local resident that has their electricity delivered by overhead wires.
How did you come up with this 10-20 times question?
You beat me to it. That was my first reaction in that all are bare. The glass or ceramic insulators are all that exist.
This is modern journalism where those writing the narratives are dumb as a box of rocks. They research nothing, make up their own descriptions and words and often purposely lie.
You obviously have no clue, thinking outages are fixed as readily and don’t understand the costs. I’m an electrical distribution engineer for utility companies, you?
Above 4kV bare wires are the norm. Burring anything below ground at 4kV is expensive for zipcode to zipcode distribution because of the insulator costs and the trenching costs.
There is no inexpensive solution for a tropical environment. Underground unfractured is just as much risk as it is on poles. Perhaps the new village time forgot will have solar roofs and a 8pm last call by lantern light.
Ask the stake holders You want zero risk or want commercial lighting, HVAC and cold drinks?
+1
“F’ing ha’ole engineers did this on purpose!”
Now that’s what I’m talking about! Preach it, brother!
I’m going to go eat some musubi and smoke some ice…
80 mile winds....and too lazy to clean the brush up. Bet there was no one alarm in any house.
Democrats love their fires and funerals, lots of media attention and speeches
Biden’s $700 should help everything!/s
Make that $630, have to factor in the 10 percent for The Big Guy.
gasoline burns at 3500 degrees give or take a hundred degrees, ethanol burns even hotter although I am unsure if HI requires a blend but I bet they do.. Aluminum melts at 1200 degrees rubber tires start to burn at 750 degrees.
It does NOT surprise me the wheel close to the gasoline tank melted. I have seen the same results from car fires.. aka this is what I would expect from a fire of this type.
I have also hauled off pickups burned from front bumper to the cab and the 5th wheel trailer has no damage other that smoke damage. it all depends on where the fire is and the direction of the wind.
JP-5 burns at about 1,500 degrees F. That's HOT. Again, more than lava out of a volcano (max about 1,200 degrees F). Aluminum melts at about 1,200 to 1,300 degrees F (sorry if off a little, doing this from memory).
2,500 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit or more is a whole different thing. We are talking Dresden fire storm level.
May want to look out your window check them out.
If all power lines were uninsulated it would be one hell of a spark event.
This stuff is insulated and there’s quite a bit of it in use where I live:
https://www.marmonutility.com/overhead/spacer-cable/
“All power lines are uninsulated. I have never seen insulated high voltage power lines.”
That’s my impression but the drops from pole to individual house are insulated at my parents’ house. Our subdivision has buried power lines.
Yeah....you’re describing the “government employee”. Even worse, add the fact that police blocked the evacuation route.
So much stinks about this - what is worse is the fact that it was predictable and nobody will be held accountable...it’d take more “government employees” to do that.
I have high tension wire running across my property. 5 years ago they replaced all of it. None of the wire was insulated. Uninsulated high voltage transfer wire is the norm not the exception.
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