[Outages-discussion] Why not to label fiber-optic cables "High Voltage"

[Seth Mattinen]

On 10/19/12 8:54 PM, Jay Hennigan wrote:
> It may discourage vandalism, but...
> 
> http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x798266252/Port-region-hit-by-Verizon-outage/print
> 
> Relevant part...
> 
> When firefighters showed up at the scene shortly after midnight, they
> saw signs reading, “High voltage wires.” He said fire crews on scene
> waited to put water on the cables until they could determine whether
> there was any electricity running through the wires, which there wasn’t.
> 
> “Standing operating procedure is that you don’t put water on
> high-voltage lines until you can determine what was going on with the
> lines,” he said. Initially, he said, “No water was put on the fire.”
> 
> He said he has a list of emergency contacts for every utility in the
> area, except Verizon.
> 
> “We don’t have such a number with Verizon,” he said. “And they can be
> very difficult to get hold of.”
> 

Well, you'll get their attention after the fiber burns.

~Seth