PPL delivers first responder safety training, one zap at a time

WILLIAMS TWP., Pa. — For more than an hour Monday night, Doug Haupt spelled out real-life scenarios first responders may encounter while responding to an emergency call.

And how a few amps of electricity can make it all worse.

A driver crashes into a utility poll. A construction worker falls into a pit with exposed wires. A ladder truck arrives at a burning apartment building near power lines. Someone digs a trench without calling 811.

Each time, Haupt, a manager of public safety with PPL, used a model home and power lines mounted on a flatbed trailer to demonstrate the potentially deadly consequences.

And each scenario ended with a small explosion, a sickening zap, something catching fire or some combination thereof.

A fraction of the power involved in any of the accidents would be enough to stop an adult's heart several times over, Haupt said.

"Household current kills more people than these up here," he said, gesturing at the model's power lines carrying thousands of volts.

"A nightlight bulb under the right condition could possibly take your life."

'Seeing is more than talking'

More than 100 firefighters from across the region watched Haupt's disasters from outside Williams Township Fire Company Station No. 1 on Morgan Hill Road.

Fire Chief Jeff Murray, the event's host, said municipal firefighters undergo extensive training to prepare for the scenarios Haupt spelled out, but seeing it in person is a far different experience than reading it from a textbook.

"We do the best we can in-house, but we can't mimic what they do," Murray said, saying his team first applied the demonstration a year ago.

"Seeing is more than talking when you can see what can happen."

Haupt said the demonstrations are intended to replicate real accidents PPL officials have seen in the field and make a memorable impression.

Most structure fires have some element of electrical safety considerations, as do many accident scenes, he said.

Each case requires firefighters and others to locate and distance themselves from power lines, knowledge of how to extract members of the public from danger and a familiarity of the limits of safety equipment, he said.

'Make sure we keep 'em safe'

Overhead wires are a major concern, he said. Years ago, a firetruck parked too close to a power line while responding to a fire. When a rescue ladder went up, power arced off the line to the $1.1-million vehicle.

The surge blew up the tires and totaled the truck, he said.

Another time, firefighters forgot to check where the service line connected to a utility pole near a burning house. The line fell onto a fire hose, injuring three firefighters, Haupt said.

One had to be airlifted to a burn center for treatment, he said.

"Our goal is to make sure we keep 'em [first responders] safe," Haupt said. "They've got a lot to think about when responding to a fire scene or an accident scene to help the people and protect the facilities."

Monday's event was attended by U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, who said his office supported safety training like this for first responders.

He reminded the assembled firefighters that Pennsylvania is making mental health treatment more available to first responders later this year; he supported the measure last year as a state representative, he said.

Customers have a part to play

The public can do its part to protect first responders as well by following safety precautions in an electrical emergency, Haupt said.

A common theme he delivered over and over again Monday is that firefighters must always assume downed wires are live.

Even if wires are not getting power from the grid, a residential customer may back-feed electricity into the line by incorrectly using a portable generator, he said.

Customers powering their home with a portable generator need to shut off the main breaker of their home's electrical panel, he said.

Otherwise, the power it generates can flow outside the home and to the transformer, where it can use that energy to send 7,200 volts into the downed wire, he said.