Imagine it is a beautiful fall morning and everything in your neighborhood is quiet. Like any other day, you get in your car and head off to work at your 9-to-5. At the end of your block you notice a tree-trimming truck. Slowly you begin to realize the trees in front of your house are going to be chopped up. You do not want your trees to look like the trees you have seen around town. The trees that you have seen have an entire side taken out of them. Upon arriving home from work, you find a huge hole cut through your tree and do not understand why this much tree had to be removed for such a small set of wires that run in front of your house.
What you, and most other people, do not realize is that these wires transfer power to thousands of homes and businesses. Potentially, these wires could carry between 7,000 and 32,000 volts, with enough amps to energize, or “fry,” anything between it and the ground. The energizing of the tree could seriously injure anyone in or around the tree.
According to Dr. Timothy Price, associate professor of emergency medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Louisville, “Many variables determine what injuries may occur, if any. These variables include the type of current (AC or DC), the amount of current (determined by the voltage of the source and the resistance of the tissues involved), and the pathway the electricity takes through the body. Low voltage electricity (less than 500 volts) does not normally cause significant injury to humans. Exposure to high voltage electricity (greater than 500 volts) has the potential to result in serious damage.” Many people have been killed under trees because of the tree making contact with the power lines and energizing it and the ground around the tree.
As a former tree trimmer for a power company, I can remember trimming trees that had not been trimmed because of someone not allowing the trimmers in their yard. The tree was all over the power lines. I climbed in it and started with the first cut. Zap! I was lucky enough to just have a nasty taste of copper in my mouth the rest of the day.
While it is dangerous to have trees come in contact with power lines, it is also inconvenient. According to AEP Ohio’s Tree Trimming F&Q’s Fact Sheet, (2009), “Tree limbs contacting power lines are one of the most common causes of power outages. One tree limb can knock out electric service to hundreds or even thousands of customers. Trees also can delay restoration of service that has been interrupted.” So you can see that it is essential for trees to be trimmed, or sometimes even removed, to maintain proper service to power consumers.
Power companies need to have some type of vegetation management around power lines to ensure service and safety to customers. Trees need to be trimmed or removed so that customers can rely on electricity being there when they flip on a light switch or turn on the heat. This involves keeping vegetation away from power lines and maintaining rights of way so that power is not interrupted when the wind blows or ice begins to form.
So when you arrive home and see a huge hole in your tree, realize that you could potentially be saving a child’s or tree trimmer’s life. You are also directly contributing to the power company’s vegetation management plan that ensures proper service for you and other power consumers.
TONY YAROS Butler
