Pulled electric meter picture

[scooter7007]

I'm looking for a picture of a pulled meter for a class that I am teaching. Any help would be appreaciated

[Dalmatian190]

1) http://www.rauckmanutility.com/downl...p3055a_web.pdf -- you should be able to use the "select" feature in Acrobat to copy the pics out of the sales brochure.

2) Note even using that tool, the electrical guy is wearing safety glasses, which you usually don't see around a fireground too often.

3) Beyond that, note he's wearing linesman's gloves which very few departments carry and even fewer actually test on the monthly or more often schedule required.

You're going to find very few departments still pull meters.

Most fire departments are not trained or equipped to deal with electrical emergencies. That does surprise me when you look at the amount of training and money put towards Hazardous Materials & Technical Rescue and then look at what we see much more commonly.

Safety concerns aside, this type of meter pulling will disappear within our lifetimes if not our careers. New style electronic meters, even for single family residences, do not disconnect the power when pulled because they're not part of the circuit. They can sit monitoring just fine physically seperate from it.

The power companies don't want to pay Jose to drive around reading the meter. They want to be able to remotely collect the data. At some point, even the old services will be required I'm sure to upgrade their meters.

[ElectricHoser]

7The power companies don't want to pay Jose to drive around reading the meter. They want to be able to remotely collect the data. At some point, even the old services will be required I'm sure to upgrade their meters.

Just a point of clarification Dal, the technology upgrade that permits utility companies to remotely read meters (often called "turtles") is not exclusively tied to the technology which permits meters to not be the single conduit for the service path. These are two indepenent upgrades, which are sometimes installed at the same time for convenience. For safety's sake, for everyone, just because a new style remote-read meter has been installed does not mean (in fact usually DOESN'T mean) that the meter is any "safer" to pull.

NEVER PULL A METER.

[fire0099881]

NEVER PULL A METER.

I agree 100%

let's say you got a house fire, I would rather them take the wire from the pole, than just at the meter, b/c if the wire burns off the house, then that wire is still charged, I think that way is much safer for everyone.

[dday05]

I'm looking for a picture of a pulled meter for a class that I am teaching. Any help would be appreaciated

Do you want a fd pic or what? Here is the deal we ran as a RIT team a few weeks ago for a structure fire. After I made my walk around we put up another ladder and was at our staging area. I noticed some people standing by the electric meter. I carry around a disposeable camera with me. As myself and the rest of my team where going over some scenarios these guys decided to pull the meter. I was like WTF? I was kind enough to take some pics of them doing that and use them for training purposes of what not to do. If you want a pic I'll see if I can send you one.

[ElectricHoser]

The thread starter seems to be looking for a pic or pics of what happens when you pull the meter and your day is ruined. I've seen this in training videos but have no pics.

To debate the topic of pulling meters and electrical safety, try one of these threads instead:

Energized Wires
http://forums.firehouse.com/showthread.php?t=69948

Pulling electric meters
http://forums.firehouse.com/showthread.php?t=58566

Why to call the Power Company
http://forums.firehouse.com/showthread.php?t=71941

Removing electrical meters
http://forums.firehouse.com/showthread.php?t=84176

[5pts384]

Meters that are used where heavy current is used will have a "demand meter" this will NOT CUT THE POWER WHEN PULLED. You will find them on farm barns and industry.

[plisken]

Last fall I installed a heat storage unit and off peek ac/ heat pump. I now have 3 meters in my house along with 3 main breaker panels and all are hot with out the other. ? is if it were on fire which would you pull. There is a vidio out there of a firefighter pulling a meter and it exploding in his face. most power comps. do not allow the pulling of meters because for the explosion hazards. I beleive East Central Energy, has it but you might want to contact your local power co. they might be able to get a copy.

[verno55]

I with electrichoser & fire0099881 NEVER pull a meter! we as FF on the fire ground don't ask the power com. to do our job, so why would we ever think we could do theirs!!!!!!

[Dalmatian190]

I guess my point with the newer electronic meters...whether remote or not...

Wasn't that they were safer to pull...

It's that it doesn't do anything if you pull them. Like many commercial / high capacity meters today, as we switch over to solid-state meters in the future "pulling the meter" even on single family residences will not cut the power.

So if de-energizing the house is important to you, time to find a new plan since the old pull the meter, safety considerations aside, will be about as useful technologically wise within the next 20 years as using a linoleum knife to remove windshields is today.

I honestly don't know all the different types of meters out there and what combination of technologies is used when and where. However, I do know at least some SFD residential meters today do not open the electrical circuit when they're pulled, and it's reasonable to assume moving forward none of them will.

[Dalmatian190]

I now have 3 meters in my house along with 3 main breaker panels and all are hot with out the other. ? is if it were on fire which would you pull.

I'd be busier trying to figure out why we haven't found the other two apartments yet

[ffmedcbk1]

we pull them on residences. No problems, my brother is also a electrian and an Lt., he has no problems with it either. If you can do it and are trained, do it safely. If we can hget the house breakers do that too. ALWAYS HAVE A SAFE APPROACH TO ELECTRICITY... DANGEROUS STUFF.

Commercial obviously a different story, find the box inside, remeber there are no guarentees even if you shut it off.

If you are worried about the wires falling off the house, it's likely that the house is a loss if it burned for a long time... this calls for collapse zones b/c it nothing but a shell you are "saving"

Risk alot for ... Rish a little... Risk nothing to save...

you know the blanks to be filled in

just my opinion

[ElectricHoser]

we pull them on residences. No problems, my brother is also a electrian and an Lt., he has no problems with it either.

This has been beat to death on the other threads, which is why I posted links to them, and the original topic is seeking pictures, not opinions, but I can't let this one fly by, sorry....

Do you or your brother ever wonder why the POWER COMPANY does NOT pull meters to shut off the power? They go inconveniently out of their way to raise a bucket at the pole. They find that using a hotstick and gloves to open a high side 4kv-14kv tap fuse above a poletop transformer while hanging in a bucket in any weather is SAFER than pulling the meter, even when it is not an emergency!

There is a REASON for that.

(sigh)

[scooter7007]

I would love to get those pictures. I have sent you a private message with my email address.

Thanks

[nyckftbl]

we pull them on residences. No problems, my brother is also a electrian and an Lt., he has no problems with it either. If you can do it and are trained, do it safely. If we can hget the house breakers do that too. ALWAYS HAVE A SAFE APPROACH TO ELECTRICITY... DANGEROUS STUFF.

Commercial obviously a different story, find the box inside, remeber there are no guarentees even if you shut it off.

If you are worried about the wires falling off the house, it's likely that the house is a loss if it burned for a long time... this calls for collapse zones b/c it nothing but a shell you are "saving"

Risk alot for ... Rish a little... Risk nothing to save...

you know the blanks to be filled in

just my opinion

Fire out a corner window impinging on a wire does not even remotely insinuate that the house is a total loss! You are willing to write off a house because of a one room fire, but you'll pull the meter because your brother is an electrician????

[backsteprescue123]

Do you or your brother ever wonder why the POWER COMPANY does NOT pull meters to shut off the power? They go inconveniently out of their way to raise a bucket at the pole. They find that using a hotstick and gloves to open a high side 4kv-14kv tap fuse above a poletop transformer while hanging in a bucket in any weather is SAFER than pulling the meter, even when it is not an emergency!

There is a REASON for that.

(sigh)

I've seen plenty of meters pulled at fires around here.....I've seen my share of wires cut at the pole too, but our local utility DOES pull meters when the situation warrants. Now don't ask me what that situation might be, cause I have no idea.

[dday05]

I would love to get those pictures. I have sent you a private message with my email address.

Thanks

I sent you a pic and I pm you. Hope you got it!

[fire0099881]

Fire out a corner window impinging on a wire does not even remotely insinuate that the house is a total loss! You are willing to write off a house because of a one room fire, but you'll pull the meter because your brother is an electrician????

that was exactly what I was thinking about, we was at a fire a few yrs. ago, and the wires burned off, the house was still intact, I was standing outside, and my buddy got shocked when he touched me to tell me something, b/c I had just happened to be standing in a little bit of water that was just laying on the ground and the wire was atleast 15' away, how I never got shocked is beyond me

[Dalmatian190]

Regarding the wires from the poles...

Two m/a fires my company responded to over the winter come to mind as exceptions to the "big fire" postulated above. One, was confined to attic but originated near the power lines so that was severely burnt. Second, rapid condition changes caught the OIC off guard so the utility wasn't called early enough to disconnect the wires before they burned off.

In 1995 during blizzard conditons the Somers, CT fire department initated an attack on a second story apartment (if I recall the detail right). Heavy, wet snow had brought the house feed dangerously low to the deck firefighters had gained access to the floor from. Operations had initiated during a blackout in the neighborhood. Ex-Captain Craig Arnone was posted as a watch to warn and watch the backs of firefighters entering or leaving the doorway about the wires "just in case." At some point during the incident, the lines became re-energized. In one of those ironic tragedies, in a moment of inattention, FF Arnone himself came into contact with the line he was guarding other firefighters from with his metal airpack bottle and was electrocuted.

If you're passing through most of Connecticut and hear on the scanner "CL&P Priority 1" or 2 or 3, that's a direct legacy of Captain Arnone, whose death caused the electric utility (Connecticut Light & Power) to overhaul their dispatch center's policies and procedures.