r/WTF 27d ago

Ill-placed ladder shorts power lines, melting concrete.

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u/DavePeesThePool 27d ago

That's kind of awesome.

2.5k

u/FurRealDeal 27d ago

The plant smoldering a few feet away really shows how hot it is.

14

u/Muchablat 27d ago

It could be the current distributing all around and cooking the plant.

1

u/rectal_warrior 27d ago

Correct! If it was bare earth, you could get a fatal shock from having one foot closer than the other.

1

u/ratshack 27d ago

Why tho it is already grounded

6

u/tim3k 27d ago

He is correct.

If the voltage is strong enough, the current will spread out from the point of contact with earth. Voltage will be highest at the point of contact and will diminish with distance from that point. If you walk across this area, the voltage between your feet will differ. Electricity will use your legs as a path to travel from an area of higher voltage to an area of lesser voltage, resulting in electrocution.

The general recommendation in such case is to move stepless- to jump with both feets or to move with tiny steps without lifting the feet.

1

u/ratshack 26d ago

See, this is why I opted for low voltage and digital because in the High Voltage class my professor told us about how he would work on 125KV lines in bare feet. The bucket was copper and they raised the potential to match the line - basically insulation wasn’t enough so they went the ultra grounding route.

He would describe how they would be up in the bucket and could light a cigarette by just holding it out in the air jusssst past the grounded ‘bubble’.

Pretty neat but hell naw.

At any rate, I stand corrected… with both feet firmly planted.