MOSES LAKE — It is the message of the Lineman Safety demonstration put on by Grant County Public Utility District that while it’s easy to forget power lines are overhead, the electricity they transit must be respected. 

“A properly functioning power line doesn’t make any noise,” said Kurt Myers, PUD line crew supervisor. “It doesn’t do anything; it’s just sitting up there delivering power to your house. You may not pay attention to it — you're just up there on your roof, removing an old antenna or leaning up your ladder, and when you (touch an electrical line), it’s going to be sudden death or serious injury.” 

Myers and other volunteers from PUD line crews are demonstrating what can happen when objects come in contact with a power line every night during the Grant County Fair.  

Myers said incidental or accidental contact is most likely when a person is working around overhead lines. 

“Not so much when (the power line) is up and in functioning condition, but when the arm breaks and everything’s hanging — a car hits a pole and the pole is laid out over the road or something,” he said. 

He saw it himself, he said, when a car hit a pole and the driver, running away from the car, saw and avoided a live electrical line at the last second. 

The line crews built a trailer with a simulated — but energized — power line to show what happens when objects come into contact with electricity. Sometimes that object is metal, like a ladder, and sometimes it’s not, like a rubber boot. Sometimes the object is an animal; Chuck Allen, senior manager of external affairs, said squirrels are a relatively common cause of outages. 

The results of accidental contact are pretty spectacular, whether it’s a ladder or a squirrel. As Brandon Hughes pulled the metal ladder away, the electrical arc followed it. 

Allen said the line crews built the trailer, and the people who demonstrate it at the fair volunteer their time. 

“It really came about because they saw there were some electrocutions that could have been prevented if people understood the hazard,” Allen said. “By demonstrating here, we’re hoping to get the message out.” 

Electrical lines are underground in some newer construction, and Myers said those are more of a hazard when people are using heavy equipment. But it’s important to pay attention around electrical lines, Allen said. 

“Once you see what actually happens when you put a ladder into a power line, and you see the arc, then you know that’s what could happen,” he said.  

Grant County PUD Lineman Safety Demonstration
Grant County Fairgrounds south field
7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday
8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday 

Safety demonstration put on every night during the Grant County Fair by volunteers from the Grant County PUD line crews.  

    Even after a metal ladder is removed from contact with an energized electrical line, the arc still follows it. That’s one of the lessons of the Lineman Safety demonstration by the Grant County PUD, which is presented every night of the Grant County Fair. Brandon Hughes demonstrates the electrical principle.
  

    Journeyman lineman Austin Melseth climbs a pole during the Lineman Safety demonstration presented at the Grant County Fair by the Grant County PUD.