[Chat] Fwd: RE: Fwd: Re: [Discussion] wires

Crystal cver1001 at yahoo.com
Tue May 6 16:54:18 EDT 2003


FYI, since Jerry's not on either list, I'm forwarding
the following.

--- Safety <safety at charlesvillage.org> wrote:
From: "Safety" <safety at charlesvillage.org>
Subject: RE: Fwd: Re: [Discussion] wires
Date: Tue, 6 May 2003 10:42:34 -0400

Hi there, all: Please be advised that immediately
after the dog was electrocuted, at the tail end of the
snow emergency, the following occurred:

-- the Baltimore City Fire Department responded
immediately and confirmed the problem.

-- BGE responded immediately and secured the area and
cut power to the area.

-- BGE spent most of the following day working on the
problem to make the area safe

-- I contacted the Public Affairs department of BGE
the following Monday

-- They immediately sent me an email and advised that
they made the area safe, but that the core of the
problem had to do with city lighting equipment-the
property of and responsibility of Baltimore City.

-- I was later contacted by a supervisor in the City's
lighting section, Bill Colbert. He advised that the
event was caused by the unusually heavy snowfall in
the city (the storm of the century). As the snow and
ice melted and re-froze, the underground storm water
system was clogged with snow, ice, and, of course,
trash thrown in the sewer system. The foregoing
resulted in expansion and contraction due to
freezing and melting-thereby damaging the circuitry.
The damage resulted in arcing and shorting in areas
of water-soaked equipment, which overrode safety
devices. This resulted in creating "hot", electrified
areas above ground on plates covering the area.

Apparently the dog was standing on the wet plate,
when it also touched an electrified part of a pole,
resulting in its death.

I was advised that this was an extremely unusual and
rare event, caused by the heavy snowfall and
clogging of storm water systems. The city spent a
great deal of effort in correcting the problem,
replacing over 1000 feet of cable and related
equipment. The manager of the lighting section
assured me that the adjacent area was checked and
deemed to be safe. 

-----Jerry Busnuk, Charles Village Benefits District


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