Utilities: Fire prevention requires close attention to conditions
Kootenai Electric Cooperative crews monitor the situation during red flag warning weather on Aug. 17. Monitoring electrical lines during extreme weather is one of the techniques used by utilities to reduce the risk of fire.
(Photo courtesy KOOTENAI ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE)
Kootenai Electric Cooperative crews work on a power line. Line maintenance plays a key role in mitigating the risk of electrical line fires.
Bonneville Power Administration crews use a helicopter to replace an insulator. Damaged equipment is susceptible to sparking, which could lead to a fire, BPA officials said.
Grant County PUD crews repair a transmission line. Keeping lines in good repair reduces fire risk, according to utility officials from throughout the region.
Kootenai Electric Cooperative crews work on a power line, with the skeletons of trees in the background. Dead or weakened trees can be a fire hazard when they’re too close to electrical lines.
The interaction of electrical lines and the landscape around them, especially trees, often ends badly; it can cause power outages any time of year, but in the summer in particular, it can cause fires. Keeping fires from happening requires close attention to power lines and the areas around them, and that’s not just a summer job....
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