Electric Consumer

Stay safe around trees and power lines!

REMC mascot Willie Wiredhand says Look out AboOOOOve!! Never climb a tree that has power lines running through its branches or within reach!

Composite photo by Richard G. Biever

Do you like to climb and play in trees? Follow these tips to help keep yourself and your friends safe:
• Never climb in or play in trees that are growing next to power lines.
• Never touch a power line with your hand or with any other object, whether you are in a tree or on the ground.
• Don’t build a tree house, fort, or anything else in a tree that is next to power lines.
• Tell an adult if you see trees growing close to high-voltage power lines or contacting these lines. (High-voltage lines are the ones at the very top of power poles.)
• If you see a power line that has fallen into a tree or onto the ground, stay away and tell an adult immediately. Even if they are not sparking or humming, fallen lines can kill you if you touch them or the ground nearby.
• Plant only trees that will not grow tall or wide enough to contact nearby power lines. Call 8-1-1 before planting a tree to make sure you won’t dig into underground power lines.

For more safety tips and some nifty interactive electrical games, go to SafeElectricity.org’s “Electrical Safety World.”

JULY 2008 TIP: Electricity and water … DO NOT MIX!

Electric co-op mascot Willie Wiredhand says DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL! Never touch an electric device when you’re wet!

Every summer people are injured or killed by electrical appliances in or near water or wet areas!

NEVER touch anything that plugs into an outlet when you are wet! If it plugs into a wall, keep it away from water and wet surfaces.

Parents, always make sure electrical appliances used outdoors or in bathrooms, kitchens or anywhere near water are plugged into an outlet with a ground-fault circuit interrupter!

Please remember 12-year-old Caitlyn MacKenzie who lost her life last year in a water-related electrical accident. To see her story, go to SafeElectricity.org .

JUNE 2008 TIP: Enjoy fireworks … in the sky!

Electric co-op mascot Willie Wiredhand says enjoy your “fireworks” — but only as a spectator. DO NOT OVERLOAD ELECTRICAL OUTLETS!

Everybody loves fireworks, especially as the Fourth of July approaches. But the only fireworks you want to see are the ones in the sky — NOT ONES FROM OVERLOADED ELECTRICAL OUTLETS!

Every year, people die from house fires started from overworked outlets like this one pictured. The outlet and wiring inside the wall isn’t made for such an electrical load. The wires get too hot and can start a fire.

If you see outlets like this, tell adults you trust that that’s dangerous! If more outlets are needed, an electrician should come to the home to add outlets and upgrade the wiring to handle the load.

Here’s an animated video on this subject.

MAY 2008 TIP: Play it safe … far from electrical stuff!

Electric co-op mascot Willie Wiredhand says play it safe … by NOT playing on or around these green, pad-mounted transformers.

May is National Electrical Safety Month — a time we especially want readers of all ages to be aware of some of the dangers that exist if you do not respect the modern marvel of electricity.

Electricity comes to your home through a system of power lines, poles, substations and other equipment. Each part has its job bringing electricity from power plants where it’s generated to your wall outlets.

Never play on or near any of this equipment. That includes utility poles, guy wires, substations and pad-mounted transformers — those green boxlike things you see in many suburban neighborhoods. They are for buried power lines. Just because they might sit between your yard and your neighbor’s doesn’t mean it’s something to play around or on.

APRIL 2008 TIP: Stay in the car! STAY IN THE CAR!

Electric co-op mascot Willie Wiredhand says STAY IN THE CAR if your car hits a utility pole. Call for help and wait till you get an OK from an electric lineman or a trained rescuer before stepping out.

If you’re ever riding in a car and for any reason it leaves the road and hits a utility pole, do you know what to do? The answer: STAY IN THE CAR!

Your first instinct may be to get out and see if everyone’s OK, but you can’t do that when you hit a utility pole. Don’t open the doors; don’t step outside. Your life may depend on it. Warn those you are with to stay in the car, too!

The reason? Power lines may have fallen and could still be energized.

Overhead power lines are tightly mounted atop poles. But whenever a car or a truck strikes a pole, power lines can break loose and fall to the ground.

They could fall on your car or drop nearby. If you get out, you could become the path to ground for the electricity. It could go through you and kill you. Or, you could brush up next to a fallen power line, or step on one; they are hard to see, especially if it’s dark. Fallen power lines can even energize the ground nearby.

Please stay inside your car. You’ll be safe there. Call 9-1-1 on a cell phone or yell to others to get help. Tell others to stay away until the electric linemen come to make sure the lines are clear and safe. Then you can get out.

Only in the rare case of fire should you try to get out. Then look for a safe place and leap clear from the car — never touching the ground and the car at the same time. Then bunny hop with feet together away from the pole to safety. You hop with feet together or shuffle away so that — should the ground be energized by a line — one foot doesn’t fall into a different voltage zone than the other.

(Electricity spreads out through the ground like ripples like a pebble dropped in water. The voltage is highest in the ring closest to where the power line is touching the ground and decreases with distance.)

Also, if you ever come upon an accident involving a utility pole, do not leave your vehicle to approach the scene. Again, downed power lines are hard to see and you could walk right into one, or they could be energizing the ground and you could be shocked just walking toward the accident.

Here’s a link to an animated safety tip on the same subject.

MARCH 2008 TIP: Go fly a kite — safely!

Electric co-op mascot Willie Wiredhand knows how to fly his kite — in an open field far away from power lines!

If someone tells you to “go fly a kite” this spring, take him up on the suggestion. Kite flying is a lot of fun. Only be sure to do so SAFELY.

ALWAYS fly your kite in an open field far away from overhead power lines.

Power lines are high on poles for a reason: to keep people away from them. They carry 7,200 volts and that can kill anyone who contacts them.

When you’re flying a kite, the string you hold could make contact. That would allow electricity to flow down the string to you.

Also remember:
• If your kite ever does drift or fall toward a power line, let go of the string.
• Call your electric cooperative if your kite ever gets hung up on a pole or a power line. Never get it yourself.
• If your kite gets hung up in a tree, make sure there are no power lines running through or near the tree before you try to get the kite down.


^{Willie Wiredhand ©NRECA}