I arrived bright and early at the fire scene to interview the insured, the owner of several large old dilapidated warehouses built in the 1920s. His last words to me were, “We turned all the power off to the warehouse after the fire.”
First of all, I don’t trust anybody who utters those words at all. That’s why I am still here today.
As I entered the fire scene, I observed that the fire scene took place above a false ceiling, approximately 25 feet off the floor and upwards to the crest, approximately 45 feet or so high. “Papa’s gonna need a ladder” I muttered to myself. The good folks at Lowes were kind enough to ignore me as I maneuvered a large extension ladder through the store like a bull in a china shop. Being the electrically minded kind of guy I am, I chose a fiberglass ladder…good choice number one.
When I re-entered the fire scene, I decided to wear my rubber and leather insulated work boots instead of my traditional fire boots…good choice number two. Plus, while making my routine interior examination, I turned off all switch boxes as there were all still in the “On” position. By the way, these switch boxes were not in the area of the origin boxes.
So, after extending my newly purchased ladder as far as it would go and while attempting to trace out knob and tube wiring, romex wiring, and a small amount of conduit AND BX cable, I utilized a Fluke voltage detector in case there was some power sneaking in from somewhere...another smart move. Luckily, every single wire was dead in the area of origin.
As the hours ticked by, I finally got to the last wire, which wasn’t really involved but passed through a portion of the fire area. I ascended the ladder without the Fluke pen (bad choice) and made a visual inspection of the cable. It ran horizontal on a 2x6 beam and then up and over into the abyss. I put on a pair of rubber insulated gloves...best choice of the day. Being near the top of the ladder, I grabbed the wire in order to give it a tug so I could see where it went. All of a sudden the Fourth of July went off approximately 18 inches from my face. Having quick presence of mind, I let go of the sparking wire and grabbed the ladder. Meanwhile, the live wire kept showering me with sparks. Somewhat shaken, I descended the ladder and took a moment to realize what could have been a bad day.
I’ll admit that it was a good thing that it was 2-3 minute walk to the owner’s office because I had a few choice words for him. I walked him to the fire scene and utilizing a 6 foot wooden pole while standing on the ladder, I tapped the wire and sure enough, it lit up like a roman candle. That’s when he decided to share some information with me that he didn’t seem important during our first conversation.
“By the way, when we hired some guys to reinstall the meter box after the fire, it dang near blew up in their face and they had to run.”
“That’s what I call a clue,” I responded. You obviously have other feeds into this place and you have a serious electrical flaw somewhere. Now you and I are going to wait here together until you have a qualified electrician come out here and disconnect all power because somebody else is going to get hurt, or your going to have another fire.”
Needless to say, I was a little agitated. However, upon looking back, the safety precautions I took obviously served me well. Getting zapped or falling from 30 feet onto a concrete floor wasn’t something on my list of things to do before I reach 50. It just goes to show, Even if the meter is gone and people tell you the power is off, don’t bet on it. Take precautions and be safe.