WrightwoodCalif.com Forum
Public Forums => Disaster Awareness & CERT => Topic started by: Wrightwood on Jan 05, 09, 07:28:12 PM
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I spoke to someone from Verizon today and got some details about Saturday's phone outage.
Thieves connected something to a 50 pair (19ga) copper trunk line in Scrub Oak Canyon (near Desert Front Rd) and ripped down 1,500 feet of cable. While the thieves were ripping down the overhead copper trunk line from the poles they damaged a 30 foot section of fiber optic cable feeding Wrightwood.
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I think they started this "ripping" exercise around 4pm-ish on that day. I remember walking around downtown Wrightwood at the time, when my cell phone had "no signal" several times. It came back on after a while, but when I got home at 6ish, I remember seeing everything was out.
There are some real low-lifes in this world, isn't there? I wish they would get electrocuted.
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Bob, I totally agree with you. My sister called me from Portland, from her cell phone to my house phone (land line) at 4:29 p.m. We talked for quite a while when all of a sudden we got cut off, so I'm guessing the cable got cut about 5 p.m. I couldn't get her back, obviously, and when I was able to get messages from her the following day, she suggested that maybe squirrels had caused the problem, not knowing the whole town was knocked out of service. I told her that yeah, it was squirrels, but not the cute, furry, bushy-tailed ones........ ::) >:(
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More like RATS got into the wiring!! This type of stuff makes me mad and if an emergency happens and because of the lack of communication, they should be held accountable for their actions. No different than making an arsonist pay for fire fighting. I also say - fry 'em.
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With 911 not functioning for 6-8 hours there was a lot of potential for health and safety issues to go bad.
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Several Wrightwood homes were without phone service
Oh this news article is so accurate ::)
12,000 feet ?
That's over 2 miles of 50 pair wire.
How big was the truck that ripped down 2 miles of 50 pair wire, then loaded it and drove off. ::) ::) ::) ::)
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"Several Wrightwood homes were without phone service."
Yeah, like the whole dang village! >:(
I don't know what 50 pair wire is, but 2 miles of it sounds like an awful lot. :o
Question - aren't the recycle places, or wherever the heck these thieves take this stuff to, alerted to this thievery? And do they still really accept this stuff? Well, I guess there are illegal recycling places too, but then what do they do with it? ???
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Ya think someone who lives along Scrub Oak would notice a truck or large pickup hauling wire sticking out the back and report this?
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I found some listings for 50 pair 24 gage copper and it weighs 300 lbs for 1,000 feet.
So by doing a few quick calculations based on the news article and information posted above, the 12,000 feet of cable would have weighed in the neighborhood of 8,000 to 10,000 lbs.
And let's not forget this was in broad daylight.
I say the news article above is BUSTED!
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Are they taking it and selling it on the black market? Perhaps their own personal project or a friend's? I'd like to get hold of a dirty contractor who would buy this stuff cheap especially if they know it was stolen.
Yeah, did you all hear the loud guffaw that came from my house when I first read "several Wrightwood homes were without service"? I think they need to check their stats again. Let's all give them a call from every phone that was disabled and a message from the cell phones that didn't work all evening long. Also, we should all send them an email from everyone who didn't have internet assess at the time. I know that from my house, they would get one landline call and five cell phone calls and messages and a internet email.
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I was talking with our Scoutmaster, who works for Verizon. He said he had heard they stole about 1/2 mile of wire.
He also said that whatever they used to pull down the wire had some pretty good power behind it, because they found grommets that had been pulled through the poles (the wire hangers, or the poles itself, I'm not certain).
I wonder if there is a way to coat the wires with the same type of dye they use in bank robberys. That way, at least the thieves would be marked...
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Yeah, I believed it after I heard about the crane operator whose lift was stolen off his truck in Phelan in the middle of a busy parking lot. Improbable but not impossible, these thieves are darn resourceful, imagine if they used this energy for good...
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Yeah, I believed it after I heard about the crane operator whose lift was stolen off his truck in Phelan in the middle of a busy parking lot. Improbable but not impossible, these thieves are darn resourceful, imagine if they used this energy for good...
There was a loader stolen off of Lancaster Blvd in the middle of the day..
Then there was the guy that went to L.A. stole a street sweeper, drove it to Cal City and started a business. It was a year before they caught up with him.
I'd bet the phone wire was stolen for scrap, not to be resold or reused.
I had a 100ft roll of 3 conductor, #6 stranded stolen from me the other day.. I paid $400 for the roll, I doubt they got a $100 for it. To turn it into scrap is a complete waste of some really nice wire. It really chaps my hide. >:(
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Here's the take from the San Bernardino Sun....not much better ... But they upgraded from "Several" homes to "Dozens" were without Phones. Hahh!
PINON HILLS
Deputies search for vandals who cut wire
Sheriff's deputies are searching for whomever cut 12,000 feet of copper wire and 100 feet of fiber optics cable from Verizon phone lines in Pinon Hills over the weekend, leaving dozens of Wrightwood residents without phone service for hours.
Verizon officials reported the theft Monday morning but deputies said someone cut the cable around 4:30 p.m. Saturday on Scrub Oak Drive, the second time people have stolen phone cables from this neighborhood in recent months.
Repairs to the phone lines are estimated at $25,000.
Anyone with information is asked to call Deputy Danny Ritchea at the Phelan sheriff's station: (760) 868-1006. Verizon may be offering a reward for information on whomever cut the lines. Anonymous tipsters can call (800) 78-CRIME.
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:o$25,000 :o So Verizon between two incidences lost $50,000....thats a full time security guard right there. How many more times will this happen before Verizon gets the picture?
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:o$25,000 :o So Verizon between two incidences lost $50,000....thats a full time security guard right there. How many more times will this happen before Verizon gets the picture?
What picture is that? Are you suggesting should hire a security guard?
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http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-scrapyard27-2008dec27,0,1722512.story (http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-scrapyard27-2008dec27,0,1722512.story)
But the bottom fell out in October, when foreign markets suddenly dried up and the price of scrap iron fell dramatically to about $40 a ton. Even copper, which has been a hot commodity for thieves, has sunk from $3.49 per pound in July to $1.33 per pound. Stainless steel has dropped from $1.18 per pound to 35 cents.
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Thank you all for the information - do you think it would it be possible for Verizon to install some tiny security cameras at the crime scene? Maybe that would give law enforcement better information to capture the perpetrators?
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Thank you all for the information - do you think it would it be possible for Verizon to install some tiny security cameras at the crime scene? Maybe that would give law enforcement better information to capture the perpetrators?
Hec if Verizon just investigated the outage in a reasonable time frame they could have helped the thieves roll up the cable.
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Electrocuted bodies of 2 suspected wiring thieves found
The men were believed to be removing copper wire from an electrical box at an abandoned driving range in Riverside County.
They were found after a fire at the site was put out.
By Corina Knoll
June 3, 2009
The bodies of two men believed to have been electrocuted while stealing copper wiring were found early Tuesday on an abandoned driving range in Riverside County, authorities said.
San Jacinto police and county firefighters received a report of fireworks in the 900 block of Idyllwild Drive about 1:20 a.m., but instead discovered a fire near a transformer, said Deputy Herlinda Valenzuela of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
After extinguishing the fire, which took place at what used to be San Jacinto Golf Center, officials discovered the bodies. A spokeswoman with the coroner's office said the bodies were burned beyond recognition and would possibly be identified today.
"They were attempting to remove copper wire from inside what we call a pad-mount enclosure -- it's an electrical box or structure that contains high-voltage energized equipment," said Steve Conroy, a Southern California Edison spokesman.
The fire caused a 12,000-volt line connected to the circuit to go out of service, Conroy said, and about 1,600 residences in Hemet and San Jacinto were affected by a brief power outage.
Metal theft has plagued Southern California for more than a decade. Thieves cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage annually by swiping brass, copper and aluminum from city property, including fire hydrants, streetlights, wells and sprinklers.
A law intended to deter metal theft took effect in December and requires recycling centers to take a customer's photo, thumbprint and identification for every transaction over $20. After three days, a check is mailed, or the customer may return to pick up their payment.Barbara Messinger, owner of P&T Metals Inc. in South El Monte, said fewer people are bringing in scrap material, but attributes it to the economy. "There's not as many housing projects, people aren't building, so we aren't getting the scrap from that and a lot of the construction companies," she said.
She said copper was once especially attractive to thieves because it fetched nearly $4 per pound. But, she said, most recyclers now offer only $1.50.
Because prices for the metal have plummeted, the attempted theft in San Jacinto was "unusual," said Dennis Gutierrez of the Sheriff's Department.
"Before, we were literally in a daily fight with crooks stealing brass, copper and bronze," he said. "This year has seen a drastic drop. We don't get the calls we used to."
Conroy said Edison has taken steps to mitigate metal theft, including installing surveillance. He said he hopes that the recent deaths discourage other thieves.
"It's obviously a very tragic incident and one that is a terrible and unfortunate reminder to people to stay out of high-voltage facilities," he said.
corina.knoll@latimes.com
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Many years ago Burbank and Glendale had a problem with an individual stealing the old glass insulators on the power lines. One night around 11pm at the end of our street, he touched something he shouldn't have. He was cooked. Literally his body was smoking until the fire department could get the powerline de-energized and retrieve him. It wasn't pretty.
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Since we're on the subject...
Petty thief electrocuted, homeowner in the sauce
http://www.kaieteurnews.com/2009/05/07/petty-thief-electrocuted-homeowner-in-the-sauce/ (http://www.kaieteurnews.com/2009/05/07/petty-thief-electrocuted-homeowner-in-the-sauce/)