My blog posting , "Wildfires caused by the electrical distribution system ... why?", 14 April 2018, was principally about the failure of electric supply in parts of Western Victoria that also caused fires resulting in serious loss in the community, particularly by those people directly impacted and why that was allowed to occur. My analysis of media photographs reveals that three (3) high voltage conductors were involved — see Plate 1 below.
The size of the insulators on a steel cross arm is consistent with a 22,000 volt feeder line serving communities on a broad scale. So many people rely on electricity for many different purposes, and in recent times to maintain telephone services now supplied by the NBN where a supply of electric power to the modem is essential.
The electricity distribution network is clearly a "lifeline" for the community!
Telstra and the Triple Zero emergency call facility
Following the recent partial failure of the Triple Zero (000) emergency call facility and other services, I did some sleuthing to determine for myself if we were being told the full truth about the cause of damage to fibre optic cable between Bowral and Orange, NSW.
This video clip from the ABC News story posted below shows fire confined to the roadside, a remarkable aftermath of a lightning strike.
Quote: "The telco later tweeted a photo of the cable pit, between Bowral and Orange, which it said had "significant fire damage consistent with lightning strike".
But Telstra chief executive Andy Penn said he could not guarantee that was the case. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the closest lightning strike at the time was about 200km west of Orange — 200 kilometres west of Orange!
Then, "All of our evidence suggests it is a lightning strike," Mr Penn said.
"There is physical damage and fire damage to the particular pit where the actual cable is, but obviously we can't prove that."
The ABC News story "Government to investigate Telstra triple-0 outage after emergency calls go unanswered", 4 May 2018, quoting the Telstra CEO.
The video posted above is very informative ... look closely, preferably on a large desktop screen, for a lightning strike there seems to be little damage to the pit and the cable consistent with the power of a lightning strike such as that which damaged the tree at the start of the Wye River-Separation Creek fire — Plates 2 and 3.
And, why would lightning seek out a fibre optic cable that from my research, and I stand to be corrected, has no metal in the cable, yet ignore the metal post indicators except for signs that they had been scorched by the burning grass around them?
Or was it a case of the pit cover not being in place and a plastic cable joint cover was exposed to fire in the grass, and was heated to the point when it melted/burned exposing a cable joint?
To me, it seems innocuous roadside fuel reduction where the burning had confined to the road reserve, but concealed within the long grass was there an exposed cable joint? Begs the question, did the length of the burn cross other pits where the cable remained unscathed?
Surely this raises the question, how many other Telstra cable pits or related infrastructure are vulnerable to fire or other damaging influence? Here’s one:
damaged where it rests against the broken metal edge
Plates 5, 6 and 7 were taken early in May this year in Sunbury Township with the situation clearly visible at the side of a main road and has been this way for months. If it is redundant then it should have been removed, but given it's one — Plate 8 — on a line further along that side of the road serving a large residential area I suspect it is still in service.
Particularly for Victorians, we should be aware of the potential vulnerability of "lifelines", with the recent failure of the electrical distribution in Western Victoria a prime example and bring to the attention of those with responsibility for monitoring the state of "lifelines" situations that should be a cause for concern.
This ought to be a concern for governments at every level, as not only Triple Zero is vulnerable, but possibly some cables feeding cellular telephone towers are vulnerable, too. Then there are fire alarms and people relying on personal medical alert systems.
Emergency Management Act 2013
Emergency Management Act 2013 No 73 of 2013 Part 7A - Critical infrastructure resilience Section 74C defines essential services. However, given the increasing reliance on various forms of communications, including the delivery of NBN by cable, the legislated definition needs amending to include "telephony and data transmission".
For those interested in accountability and resilience in emergency management the whole of Parts 7 and 7A Emergency Management Act 2013 is enlightening reading.
More paid firefighters and water bombing aircraft can only respond to fires and won't prevent pre-response damage to some essential infrastructure, such as the fibre optic cable mentioned above — what is needed is much more emphasis on PREVENTION and community involvement. That's a major step towards modernising a fire service!
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