Verizon vs. the Needham Fire Department

netbuzz writes "At issue is whether — or not — there was a minor fire in a house on Pine Grove Street in Needham, Mass., caused by a Verizon employee drilling through an electrical main. Everyone agrees that whatever happened — or didn't happen — was indeed the fault of the Verizon employee; it's "fire or no fire" that is at issue. Verizon says no fire, not even smoke. The Needham Fire Department begs to differ. New eye-witness reports are emerging ... and it's not looking good for Verizon."

Comments

Re:Stupid semantics argument

[Ellis D. Tripp]

[quote]If there were just some sparks with the protection on the electrical circuits preventing a fire as designed then there's no reason to change the ordinances.[/quote]

If this was actually the building's "electric main" (properly called the service conductors), there isn't really any overcurrent protection on them. The service drop and wiring between the meter and the main breaker/disconnect are UNFUSED, with the only protection being a fuse on the primary side of the transformer out on the utility pole, which generally serves 5-6 homes, if not the entire block.

In the event of a short circuit on these wires, fault currents of thousands of amperes are potentially available. The end of the drill bit used by that Verizon tech most likely turned into a ball of plasma when it hit those wires. The guy is lucky that the accident happened inside a wall cavity, or he likely would have gotten a faceful of metal vapor and some nasty burns.

Accidents involving arc-flash burns like this actually kill more electricians than outright electrocution does.