New National Electric Code rules to make it safer for firefighters to turn off power during a home fire will actually come back and bite fire service in its ass

 I have always said The Fire Service is its Own Worst Enemy

Unfortunately  New NEC 70 The National Electrical Code rules where not thought thru and will be putting Future Firefighters lives at Risk 

NEC 70 now requires all new Electrical Services to homes to have an outside disconnect so Fire Fighters can turn power off and do not have to wait for power company's to respond or risk either going into a cluttered dangerous  basement and shutting breakers off or pulling the meter 

OK so far so good sounds like a good idea . But is it ?

Take a look at the pictures below 

 

 Here is a 45 year old disconnect for a rural home 

Normally you open the lid and the breaker is covered with a steel plate you cant see what's underneath  waiting to hurt you.

 

Still want to shut off that breaker ?  

You see this is the problem no matter how you weather proof an outside disconnect they deteriorate over time.

So a firefighter does not know this danger exists  opens the box pulls the breaker and  several things can and will happen.

If he is lucky the breaker does its job no one gets hurt .

or this can happen  only one side of breaker shuts off and half the power is still on to home.  

Another issue can happen .  You pull breaker and it does not shut off at all .

In a worst case scenario breaker  arcs and catches fire and in an  absolutely  worst case the breaker dead shorts and explodes blowing the inner cover out of the enclosure killing whoever is in front of it .

I am a Forensic Electrical Inspector and Fire Investigator and have seen all these incidents  happen

with outside disconnects on Mobile Homes  and  Roof Top HVAC units  .

 Electrical burns are devastating i personally have experienced a 3 day trip  to hospital when a breaker blew on me and it was indoors  

So I know what im talking  about . Of course the fools who proposed this new rule  will be long gone or retired 

when the accidents start happening and there will be no one to blame . 

 

There's a saying in the Electrical Industry . Its not the electric that scares me its who wired it ahead of me.