I dunno, the pole clearly goes all the way up in this picture, and it's much brighter out. (/s) (just to be sure, I don't want to be confused as a redhat 🤪)
Yes, if the electric corps would get off their asses and begin a little at a time. Use just 2% of their yearly profits to dump the 120-year-old line and pole concept by burying elect lines throughout our country. In the end, they could save billions. And for citizens, a lifetime of grief.
Burying the cables would be great, but it's not always practical.
An underground cable needs to be far thicker to carry the same current. Which makes it a lot more expensive.
Then there's the disruption and extra expense of laying the cable and maintaining it.
I can’t imagine the additional traffic it would have created to bury lines in these parts of LA. Streets aren’t very wide and no one wants their front yards ripped up. Plus, in PA WITH newly buried lines, and we still lose power a few times a year.
Earthquakes are not kind to underground cables. It's a balancing act on fire vs seismic. Christchurch NZ had to build a few overhead HV (66kV) lines in a hurry after the 2011 quake sliced up the underground network.
I don’t know why the community wouldn’t push for it to be underground.
My neighborhood is entirely underground, built around 2000. I’m in Canada. Why wouldn’t it be possible there? Especially when this will only get worse in the future.
In fairness I don’t know how complex any of this would be.
Not a flawed system, a complicated one with multiple issues like earthquakes, high population density & housing, and probably building in the wrong places too many times.
Earthquakes complicate the issue as well. Multiple fault lines run through the whole region. While there are regularly some pretty large shakers, smaller quakes and aftershocks are frequent.
i’m from south carolina and we still have many a power line above ground. hence why we lost power for so long during helene. we also had poles like this cut in half by that disaster. spooky as hell. prayin for this world
No, underground, especially in an earthquake state, can be just as bad. Above ground, noone accidently digs into them for instance, which can be dangerous and VERY annoying to people (kinda like when they cut water or netcables, but those dont carry electric current)
Other countries can handle it just fine. Why can't the US? I also don't see why underground powerlines are more dangerous during an earthquake? Surely unless running over a fault line underground lines are safer and less prone to damage? And even when breaking they won't start fires or block roads.
Most other countries have a combination, where mains are underground so wired is only lighting etc. Its a lot cheaper overground too btw, especially if its something that isnt semi-permanent (even streetlights move 🤷♂️).
True. Not in big cities in Western EU, but as soon as you go out you can see those big towers one after the other with electric lines. If you see St. Petersburg, Russia the sky is criss-crossed with cables.
Both have their pros and cons beyond initial cost. In the event of an earthquake driven fissure, sparking electrics next to broken gas lines and pressurized water has its own issues.
Not only is expensive, but those wires need to be insulated against groundwater and any sort of flooding. Add to the fact that when you bury power lines in certain neighborhoods they become highly prone to getting cut by any sort of street work. Pros and cons pros and cons
It's not inexpensive. Most of Queens loses electricity during every major storm, while most of Brooklyn stays lit because Con Ed is taking years to bury the lines.
I grew up in San Diego, where buried lines were a luxury for towns that could spend on their ocean views. La Jolla has had buried lines for decades, while the adjacent towns of Del Mar and PB are just getting to it.
I just watched a news story here of LADWP trucks going around and spraying fire retardant on poles and clearing brush around them. $20k each to replace in lowlands. $100k in hilly remote areas. 😮
This was not really a story about doing this NOW to catch up during a fire..just that they have a fire team that does this for their 300K poles every year. Cheaper for them to send out crews than replace the poles if they can.
I'm so sorry, but thankful you're safe. If you need hot meals, hygiene kits, etc... please DM me. I'm volunteering with an organization in Azusa that can assist — for you or your neighbors in need.
Most of those poles were put in 60+ years ago; that's what they used. The sheer number of poles that would need to be replaced would be cost prohibitive. People already complain that their rates are too high; the providers will pass the costs along to the consumers and no one wants to pay more.
But cost prohibitive compared to what? Don’t you think it should be a state infrastructure project even if it’s a little at a time? That way the providers can’t raise rates.
I grew up in La Canada which is part of the Eaton fire evacuation zone. For years they wanted to bury the power lines on the main thoroughfare. It was such a huge deal. 🙄 They finally did it. That was just one street.
This is my favorite picture I've ever seen. How would I get a print of it? I have pretty severe chronic treatment resistant depression and this photo is so stunning, captivating and motivating to me.
I hate it when power poles do this.
You -know- that the lines are under tension. You know that's not copper up there alone. But watching the tension, weight and strength of the wires keep the pole hovering like that with everything burned below it ... as if the pole was trying to escape the flames.
Wild. This seems to happen alot in big fires. I have a folder of photos of burned away utility poles collected from media.
2020 CZU Lightning complex, 2018 Camp Fire,
2024 Texas panhandle, 2021 Dixie Fire.
I listened to a veteran talk shortly the other day about the fire giving him flashbacks to Vietnam, when they used Napalm. Molten lamp posts and everything. And you've got wildfires jumping 12 lane highways in seconds. Insane amounts of heat, we can only partly combat with not that healthy chemicals
I don't THINK you have anything to apologize for here. Just sounds like they've got their hands tied as far as their tools go and you're acknowledging that, or that's what I'm reading between the lines here.
This is gonna get even more insane for a whole lot of people...
Oops. What a copy pasta massacre. I meant to write that we do have a chance against these super hot hellfires, but the people with boots on the ground are the true heroes.
This actually happens pretty often, the poles are usually close enough together as to be redundant to some degree for the safety factor, and the lines are actually stronger than most things that would knock them down
That this becomes a political issue for Republicans should be a crime in itself. Think of how the feds were blamed in North Carolina for flood work. Conspiracy theories. This Republican reaction to CA fires is just the elitist version of the same type reaction.
Virtual Community Meeting NOW, January 14th 4:00 p.m.: Fire officials will host a virtual community meeting to provide the current fire situation, address questions, and discuss recovery. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.
Sincere question. Instead of rebuilding using wood beams, what about using a heavy density of the same material used for those black kitchen utensils? Would it be able to withstand a fire a bit better? Scientist friends, your thoughts?
Best to make HOUSES harder to catch fire.
TL;DR-
Non flammable roofs, siding, 1/4"metal mesh over vents, no flammable stuff like wood decks against house.
About utility poles, my guess is if they were sheet-steel or -aluminum clad, they wouldn't burn. Not sure it's worth it.
Reducing the houses burning would reduce the amount of fuel in cities enormously.
Fire damage from three wood structures and 300 gallons of transformer oil Channelview, TX
I think more concrete should be used in the infrastructure. Usually wood is cheaper so thats why infrastructure all over the country is in such bad shape amongst many other reasons.
Flame retardant plastic specifically made at a higher density with a higher resistance to heat compared to kitchen utensils. But yeah maybe it won't work.
Comments
https://www.statista.com/chart/27887/big-oil-sees-profits-increase/
An underground cable needs to be far thicker to carry the same current. Which makes it a lot more expensive.
Then there's the disruption and extra expense of laying the cable and maintaining it.
Doing anything about infrastructure in the USA has a big cost, even if we talk about one metropolitan area, and it scares politicians into inaction.
My neighborhood is entirely underground, built around 2000. I’m in Canada. Why wouldn’t it be possible there? Especially when this will only get worse in the future.
In fairness I don’t know how complex any of this would be.
Just because something is furbished doesn't mean it's new.
Dig? No.
https://www.seattleinjurylawyerblog.com/aircraft-collisions-with-powerlines/
https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/abc10-originals/lie-pge-undergrounding-perplexes-customers/103-00a32f6d-5a5b-4020-ab29-ae4468aa2dd4
A picture of the top of an electricity pole only held by all the wires connected to it as the bottom of the pole has burned away
"Yeah, I'm telling you I can't just climb up and check."
Great picture.
Hearts, heads and hands to peoples of SoCal.
You -know- that the lines are under tension. You know that's not copper up there alone. But watching the tension, weight and strength of the wires keep the pole hovering like that with everything burned below it ... as if the pole was trying to escape the flames.
I hope they see that pic!
2020 CZU Lightning complex, 2018 Camp Fire,
2024 Texas panhandle, 2021 Dixie Fire.
I have the utmost respect for those people!
This is gonna get even more insane for a whole lot of people...
https://bsky.app/profile/keribla.bsky.social/post/3lfj2n2oo622s
Doesn’t make them very fire-resistant 😛
Jokes aside, my heart goes out to the victims of all the LA fires.
just sorta staple em together
That picture is spooky —almost like something from a horror movie.
Oh, wait!
It IS something from a horror show — the fires in LA.
It’s real.
live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LosAngelesCountyFD
Holy shit
TL;DR-
Non flammable roofs, siding, 1/4"metal mesh over vents, no flammable stuff like wood decks against house.
Example- https://www.monolithic.org/benefits/benefits-survivability/monolithic-dome-survives-texas-wildfire
https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/wildfire/preparing-homes-for-wildfire
Reducing the houses burning would reduce the amount of fuel in cities enormously.
Fire damage from three wood structures and 300 gallons of transformer oil Channelview, TX