PEORIA, Ill. – A training provided to Peoria firefighters may be as important now as it’s ever been.
Firefighters Tuesday were being shown through Ameren how to deal with live power line situations that might be caused by fires or accidents, and how the changing use of power might be changing how much they think about that.
“Technology is different today,” said Steve Hancock with Live Line Demos, which conducted the training. “There’s more required of them. We’re dealing with the onset of electric cars coming on the scene. That can create a new problem. We’re dealing with more power lines out there, both above ground and underground. They have to be aware of everything.”
Hancock says while there are things firefighters can look for to try and figure out whether a downed power line is live or not, you just really don’t know. So you should always assume a downed line is live.
It’s training Peoria Fire Division Chief for Fire Prevention Nate Rice says is given there are a lot of unknown at scenes firefighters respond to.
“Having this training and going through this training helps us to take a pause in our head, and take a moment to look at what we’re dealing with, and be able to handle that situation safely and effectively.”
Firefighters, among other things, were shown how various items, including birds and helium balloons, come in to contact with a 7,200 volt power line.
