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Copper Thieves: Not just bad for your radio reception

The cause of the fire remained under investigation Monday, although recent copper wire thefts in the Wood Hollow area have removed critical ground wires and a short circuit on a transmission structure may have helped to spark the fire.
Click to expand...
(emphasis added)

Sounds like only speculation of radio to me. ;)
 
I think they had lightning strikes that were not properly diverted, due to missing ground wires.

I've found numerous poles in my neighborhood, where the pole grounds have been removed, and they also create quite a lot of RF intermod, since the pole hardware is left "floating".
 
They need to put all caught copper crooks out at sites where they stole the wire and let THEM become the conductor back to ground from tall towers, transmission lines, etc. If mother nature decides to let them live, oh well. If they become a carbon path to ground, so be it.
 
Copper thieves could be stopped easy. Simply pass a law that copper and aluminum wiring must be soled to the scrap yard by a licensed electrician. (There was a commercial power failure in a industrial park caused by thieves stripping a power company substation last summer). The air conditioning thieves could be stopped by requiring a HVAC tech with the proper EPA training, documenting the Freon has been properly removed. Copper piping by licensed plumbers. I am not a fan of government regulations but several Churches in my area have been hit, trashing thousands of dollars worth of compressors for under $50 scrap.
 
I don't know if it's the same over there, but here in New Zealand, when you take scrap to the metal dealers you have to show them photo ID - usually your driver's license, plus give them your address, phone number and vehicle registration number ('tags').

There have been ongoing copper thefts everywhere - guttering off churches and old houses is a popular target.
There have even been reports of bronze plaques being stolen. Brass/bronze fetches not a lot less than copper.
A few months back a couple of guys were caught stealing man-hole covers (either forged aluminium or steel) and there was a case not too far back of someone trying to steal copper bars from a substation that was very much alive with 400,000 volts.


From our local news:

"They are cutting into live conductors and risking blowing themselves up. The last one we had we found burnt rubber gloves at the site. We had one about six months ago where they stole copper from a substation and as they cut it out of the ground it caused an arc and it blew the pliers out of their hands and we found the burnt pliers.

We had an incident in a small town where a truck hit a power pole and the lines fell down around him. A very helpful passer-by went and cut the lines from around the truck, which was an incredibly dangerous thing to do because they could start up live at 11,000 volts. By the time we got to the site they'd cut them, rolled them up, put them in the back of a utility ('pick-up') and driven away".
 
I don't know how it is in other states, but in NY you do have to show photo ID at the scrap yard, and they maintain records of who junked what. Unfortunately, linking specific scrap to a particular incident isn't as simple as CSI would make it seem, especially if they're smart enough to sit on it for a while.

In a throwback to the '60s, I hear that a lot of new construction is using all aluminum wiring because it's cheaper and lighter. Aluminum first showed up in the '60s, but most of it had to be pulled out because oxidation where it connected to copper fixtures caused fires. I hope those people who are getting aluminum know enough to keep EVERYTHING aluminum. A couple of fixtures from Home Depot could turn a homeowner into an unwitting arsonist.
 
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