Armed Eye Doc Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 We hired a guy to take down 2 trees. One was a 50 foot oak in the front yard. It had the house on one side, carport on one side and power lines on another - overhanging all of them. The other tree is in the backyard between a fence and the detached garage with about 5 feet of space. He started in the front. He had gotten about half of the tree down without issue. Then this happened. He is bonded and insured and, most importantly, did not run away. I was in the house and heard the crash and saw power flicker off and on. Half of the breakers in the box had tripped. The limb had hit the power supply line from the pole to the house. I went back in to finish lunch when I noticed sparking in a wall. I ran to turn the main breaker off thinking that would be the end. But no, the sparking continued. I called the tree guy in who called an electrician friend to get here quick. We heard a buzzing sound that we tracked to the water heater closet. The copper tubing was glowing red. It is the gas supply to the water heater. It was radiating heat, not what you want from a natural gas line. (I wish I had gotten a picture of the red hot tubing.). We called the power company, fire department and the gas company. The electrician figured out that the limb had pull one leg of the power out of the meter into the tube and was arcing to it. It blew the return line to the pole and needed a place to ground. It found the gas line. We are currently sitting in a house without power or gas. Luckily, it is not going to get cold for a couple of days. We have our generator running a fan and TV while we wait for the power to get turned back on. It is supposed to be on before midnight. As I said, life sucks at the moment but I am thankful that no one was hurt and I still have a house to sit in and complain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Z5V Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Copper gas line conducting the electricty... is fucking SCARY, BROTHER!!!! DAMN!!! That guy needs to stop doing tree service, if he can't drop them where they need to be dropped. Bad Monday for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterrex Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Glad you have a house left. Could have been much worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmackc Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Well Doc, I'd say you are luckier than a double peckered goat, but first you had some badder luck than you ought to have had, then you got away from an explosion that would have took out all you and all of your stuff. Tree guys aren't known for doing 100% successfully perfect work. I had the same kind of problem and hired a tree guy that did climbing tree removal. he started cutting off branches with his helper pulling them to a good spot with a rope. I had a time or two that I didn't breath for a good three minutes. Later I heard from his dad that they bought $75 worth of weed and had a smoke in.that night. The dad accused me of causing them going bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Glad it wasn't worse Doc. Was there a ground missing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armed Eye Doc Posted February 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 (edited) He has been doing tree work for 5 or 6 years. His rope broke on that one limb. He said it was 900lb rope. Power is back on finally. A couple of things may have gotten fried. Microwave and a wifi router didn't make it. AC unit isn't coming on. It may have been turned off due to the gas furnace. The gas company found that there was a leak somewhere but couldn't say where it was. They used sniffers and said it was not the water heater or the furnace. Now I need a plumber. Edited February 4, 2020 by Armed Eye Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armed Eye Doc Posted February 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 39 minutes ago, unforgiven said: Glad it wasn't worse Doc. Was there a ground missing? The house was built in the mid 50s. There's no telling if there was a code at that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisco Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Doc, You are indeed lucky. A natural gas line being arc’ed to without exploding. Count your lucky stars. The rest of it sounds like a rube goldberg gone crazy-one thing leading to another. Just glad you and the missus are safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNP Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Here I was ready to start a long bitching post about the guy installing my septic system, and it may still come before the event is over...but now it sounds like nothing. You’ve had a much worse day. Congrats! And glad nobody was hurt. Things are fixable, people not as much. Bummer it happened though....hopefully all is right again soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armed Eye Doc Posted February 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 I still wish I had gotten a picture of the glowing gas line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunuckgaucho Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Was it arcing from the gas line to the cabinet?hence the burn marks? Quick guess is bonding/grounding issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Z5V Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 We're just lucky that you're still here, Doc. Seriously. That's some skeeeeery shiit! Was Wife-Of-Doc, Ruler Of The House home at the time? I can seriously hear your voice right now, looking around, scratching your head and saying, "Well, this sucks..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 8 minutes ago, Cunuckgaucho said: Was it arcing from the gas line to the cabinet?hence the burn marks? Quick guess is bonding/grounding issues. ^^^ this... should not have happened bad ground no ground a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketch Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 well shits if we were tied together Friday night fights would have had some lights.. sept then they went out as my garage door fell off it's track.. wind and rain blowing in the door 4' off the ground. home owner bs is hard to beat! pulled the bolts right out of the beam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt.Cross Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 2 hours ago, Armed Eye Doc said: I still wish I had gotten a picture of the glowing gas line. Doc, I love you brother, but don't do stupid crap like standing around taking pictures of a glowing gas line.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Doc, I've made too many fire calls. Damned glad there wasn't one "in progress" at your house. Be safe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRiverII Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 That is just plain bad that could have gotten worse quick. I've seen three houses go up in flames from one bad gas water heater explosion. Multiple deaths and a lifetime of grief followed. Glad you and yours are merely uncomfortable for now. The guy didn't run away, that's a plus in a terrible situation. I usually run the gas connection with 3/4" black then tee off 1/2", with a drip leg. All rigid connections. Never liked seeing those flex connectors exposed, think they are too fragile. God bless you and yours, and the pups of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armed Eye Doc Posted February 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Thanks everyone! Just to clarify, I was not in the house once the glowing gas line was discovered. That is why I do not have the picture. Fire, gas and electric were called as soon as it was realized. The tree guy is a volunteer FF and helped to make sure it was safe. Now that it ended safely, I can wish I got the picture because it was impressive. It is that inner child in me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magwa Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Wow Doc that was a close one .. you make sure that guy should have had the limb roped and lowered it to the ground any time there is power near by.... glad you are ok and everyone is safe.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNP Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 He had it roped. The rope broke! I bet he puts two on the next one that has anything around it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtallen83 Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 Good thing you were home when he did it, could have been so much worse if you didn’t catch it right away! Bet the kid takes a close look at his equipment going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisco Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, DNP said: He had it roped. The rope broke! I bet he puts two on the next one that has anything around it. Part of the problem is the more stress and repetitive stress put on a rope, they gradually lose their tensile strength. Wonder how often he replaces his ropes? Ropes that strong are not cheap. Edited February 4, 2020 by Sisco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNP Posted February 4, 2020 Report Share Posted February 4, 2020 (edited) I bet he bought a new one yesterday. Nobody wants that stuff to happen. Unfortunately every so often it does. Insurance cleans up the mess and you get a great reminder to go back and review your process. A friend of ours does a lot of work brushing properties. Last year he started a fire and his insurance picked up a 70k bill. He’s a lot more prepared now when he’s out working. As long as we learn from our mistakes and nobody gets injured or dies due to our negligence, an occasional fail can be a good thing for your business. It’s that splash of reality that washes away complacency. Edited February 4, 2020 by DNP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
washguy Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 Doc Ron Whew ! thats about covers it.....yall lucked out big time....put a lil xtra on the plate at church! Wash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armed Eye Doc Posted February 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 42 minutes ago, washguy said: Doc Ron Whew ! thats about covers it.....yall lucked out big time....put a lil xtra on the plate at church! Wash Amen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.