3 Texas Boy Scouts reportedly shocked by live power line on deadly sailing outing. An 11-year-old clings to life.

[thackney]

3 Texas Boy Scouts reportedly shocked by live power line on deadly sailing outing. An 11-year-old clings to life.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/07/boy-scouts-sailing-lesson-turns-deadly-when-mast-strikes-power-lines-on-texas-lake/Scattered across Lake O’ The Pines on Saturday afternoon were adventure-thirsty Boy Scouts mastering the outdoors.

The more senior members of Troop 620, based in the small East Texas town of Hallsville, worked at one end of the public lake toward a merit badge involving motor boats. On shore, the troop’s youngest scouts tended to their campsite. And aboard a catamaran in an alcove called Alley Creek, two teens with Eagle Scout distinction were mentoring an 11-year-old troop member on how to sail.

For a while, all was well on the water. Then suddenly the catamaran caught fire, and the scouts onshore were shouting for help.

Within minutes, a troop leader had hopped into a kayak and paddled upon the gruesome scene: two scouts in the water and one on the sail boat. All were apparently shocked by a live power line strung just low enough to catch their 30-foot mast as they glided beneath it, according to state wildlife officials.

The Eagle Scouts, ages 18 and 16, were dead, according to state wildlife officials, and the 11-year-old, identified by friends and family as Thomas Larry, was unconscious in the water. All were wearing life jackets.

Some good Samaritans helped pull Thomas into their boat while the Scout leader performed CPR, said Daniel Anderson, chief operating officer for the East Texas Boy Scouts of America, which includes Troop 620. They drove Thomas to the marina, where he was airlifted in critical condition to a hospital just across the state line to Shreveport, La....

[austingirl]

Terrible story. So sad.

[Sanguine]

This is awful. 

[Fishrrman]

The power lines may have been sagging from the summer heat.

That's what caused the Northeast blackout in 2003.

[thackney]

The power lines may have been sagging from the summer heat.

That's what caused the Northeast blackout in 2003.

While Aluminum wires will expand (sag) with additional heat, ambient temperatures alone won't cause significant sag.  I started in the electric utility business designing overhead distribution circuit layouts.  Even today I still today use sag vs heating tables for overhead lines in facilities.  It takes an overloaded circuit to heat up the wire to sag beyond normal design.

The 2003 blackout was caused by overheating of the lines causing them to sag, but that was caused by other problems that caused too much current to flow through the lines, causing the overheating.  It was not just a case of too much heat or too much air conditioning load.  Prior to electrical lines overloading, three generators tripped off line and a major transmission line was shut down due to a fire underneath causing it to fault.  Only after those events, did lines become overloaded, heat up, sag and touch trees causing a trip did the cascading faults take out such a large system.  If a small area had been allowed to go dark with the initial system, rather than trying to pull too much power from other areas, the lines would not have overheated.

August 14, 2003 Outage
Sequence of Events
https://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/reliability/blackout/09-12-03-blackout-sum.pdf

[ABX]

This is very sad news. They were from a very small town, one town over from us and it happened at a lake I frequent. There is an area where the power lines are dangerously low over the lake, I'm surprised this hasn't happened before. Hallsville only has a population of about 4,000 people- Reports are that between 500 and 1,000 came out the the candle light vigil last night.

[ABX]

The power lines may have been sagging from the summer heat.

That's what caused the Northeast blackout in 2003.

They are also dangerously low over the lake (I'll try to find either a street view or image). Not a lot of sailboats around that part of the lake which is probably the only reason it hasn't happened before.

[thackney]

This is very sad news. They were from a very small town, one town over from us and it happened at a lake I frequent. There is an area where the power lines are dangerously low over the lake, I'm surprised this hasn't happened before. Hallsville only has a population of about 4,000 people- Reports are that between 500 and 1,000 came out the the candle light vigil last night.

I've tried to find out more specifics about the height of the lines and the location.  If you come across any local discussion please bump the thread with it if you please.  This is a safety topic I and others at my company deal with, although usually not at a public access lake.  We have had cranes hit lines we run through oil/gas facilities.

[ABX]

I've tried to find out more specifics about the height of the lines and the location.  If you come across any local discussion please bump the thread with it if you please.  This is a safety topic I and others at my company deal with, although usually not at a public access lake.  We have had cranes hit lines we run through oil/gas facilities.

I'll see what I can find in terms of discussion or data. It is an Army Corps of Engineers managed lake so there has to be something on it. Here is where I think this happened based on the description, a bit down from Alley Creek. You can see the powerlines right over the water. You may have a better handle on the height of the poles, but the low part would obviously be under 30'. The perspective of the street view camera makes it look very high here, but from boating there, they feel very low. I know you usually will see fishing line and fishing floats hanging from it from people casting too high.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7939019,-94.5480514,3a,37.5y,155.72h,90.35t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sJ0gfCWEw3LDSuNXj5TeyZw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DJ0gfCWEw3LDSuNXj5TeyZw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D333.26865%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

[thackney]

I'll see what I can find in terms of discussion or data. It is an Army Corps of Engineers managed lake so there has to be something on it. Here is where I think this happened based on the description, a bit down from Alley Creek. You can see the powerlines right over the water. You may have a better handle on the height of the poles, but the low part would obviously be under 30'. The perspective of the street view camera makes it look very high here, but from boating there, they feel very low. I know you usually will see fishing line and fishing floats hanging from it from people casting too high.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7939019,-94.5480514,3a,37.5y,155.72h,90.35t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sJ0gfCWEw3LDSuNXj5TeyZw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DJ0gfCWEw3LDSuNXj5TeyZw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D333.26865%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656


<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!4v1502158830443!6m8!1m7!1sJ0gfCWEw3LDSuNXj5TeyZw!2m2!1d32.79390193341053!2d-94.54805136850094!3f150.42228087905022!4f6.645580356714632!5f1.9587109090973311" width="600" height="450" frameborder="0" style="border:0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Thank you for that information.  I know Texas Game Wardens are doing an investigation so there should eventually be a public report.

[debrawiest]

This is very sad news. They were from a very small town, one town over from us and it happened at a lake I frequent. There is an area where the power lines are dangerously low over the lake, I'm surprised this hasn't happened before. Hallsville only has a population of about 4,000 people- Reports are that between 500 and 1,000 came out the the candle light vigil last night.

Such sad, sad news. Praying for the 11-year old. Praying for the parents, families and friends of the deceased.

[thackney]

I'll see what I can find in terms of discussion or data. It is an Army Corps of Engineers managed lake so there has to be something on it. Here is where I think this happened based on the description, a bit down from Alley Creek. You can see the powerlines right over the water. You may have a better handle on the height of the poles, but the low part would obviously be under 30'. The perspective of the street view camera makes it look very high here, but from boating there, they feel very low. I know you usually will see fishing line and fishing floats hanging from it from people casting too high.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7939019,-94.5480514,3a,37.5y,155.72h,90.35t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sJ0gfCWEw3LDSuNXj5TeyZw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DJ0gfCWEw3LDSuNXj5TeyZw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D333.26865%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656


<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!4v1502158830443!6m8!1m7!1sJ0gfCWEw3LDSuNXj5TeyZw!2m2!1d32.79390193341053!2d-94.54805136850094!3f150.42228087905022!4f6.645580356714632!5f1.9587109090973311" width="600" height="450" frameborder="0" style="border:0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

It would appear that the National Electrical Safety Code for this distribution circuit over a lake this size suitable for sailboats would require a clearance of 40.5 ft at the lowest point of the sag.

http://www.ojua.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/rule-232b1-history.pdf

Sailboats in Peril Near Power Lines
http://iaeimagazine.org/magazine/2003/03/16/sailboats-in-peril-near-power-lines/

[thackney]

3rd Boy Scout dies after sailing accident on Lake O' the Pines
https://www.news-journal.com/news/2017/aug/07/3rd-boy-scout-dies-after-sailing-accident-lake-o-p/

...Texas Parks & Wildlife spokesman Steve Lightfoot said the 11-year-old Scout died Monday. Thomas Larry was hospitalized at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport following the accident Saturday....

[thackney]

At another portion of the same lake, the same type event has happened before.

Death of three scouts similar to 1982 electrocution on Lake O' the Pines
http://www.kltv.com/story/36082251/dead-on-lake-o-the-pines-this-was-not-the-first-time

It was nearing Christmas in 1982 when four East Texans took a sailboat onto Lake O' the Pines. As they came into an inlet that lead to Johnson Creek, their mast hit overhead power lines. Electricity surged through the mast, to the boat itself, injuring one man, Steve Kattner of Longview, and killing G. Brockett Irwin....

...Kattner and two others made it away from the incident alive. Since the incident, a lawsuit was settled and the electrical lines were raised. They are now well above the water, strung out, still away from the bridge that crosses the Johnson Creek inlet....

[austingirl]

3rd Boy Scout dies after sailing accident on Lake O' the Pines
https://www.news-journal.com/news/2017/aug/07/3rd-boy-scout-dies-after-sailing-accident-lake-o-p/

...Texas Parks & Wildlife spokesman Steve Lightfoot said the 11-year-old Scout died Monday. Thomas Larry was hospitalized at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport following the accident Saturday....

More sad news. I hope this problem gets fixed.

[ABX]