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InfestedPony5 karma

What country do you live in? And what year did this happen?

I work for a company that surveys power lines for clearance issues like the one that caused your accident. I know the US and UK have some really strict guidelines on this stuff.

I'd like to know, what do you mean an explosion? Do you mean the line snapped, or did the electricity arc to the ground through you?

And do you have a photograph of the offending line?

InfestedPony3 karma

Thanks for the reply!

Cutting down the trees is common practise all over the world. Re-stringing the towers is a much more expensive option.

I'm pretty confident I can tell you what happened. Simply put, the wire got too close to the house and the electricity took the path of least resistance to ground.

There's a lot of factors that can cause a wire to sag closer to the ground. Metal fatigue, the temperature in the environment, Ice on the lines and the current that the power company is pushing through the line.

This kind of thing should obviously never happen. Having said that, it's entirely possible that when this line was first built it met all standards and the wire sagged down over time. However it is the power companies responsibility to make sure the line remains safe.

I hope that sheds some light, thank you for sharing your story.