We owe it to these boys

[Sigarms]

to ensure that this never happens again...

3rd Boy Scout dies after sailboat strikes power lines in East Texas | Accidental Death | Dallas News

Can't imagine the hurt the parents are going through.

Kind of gets me mad that these boys were wearing floatation devices (good safety) and yet adults, for whatever reason, allowed this tragedy to happen. Scratching my head over a live line so close to water that a boat could hit it?

Prayers to those involved.

 

[oldnslo]

I was a Boy Scout Leader for 12 years and things happen fast when you have a few dozen kids and 3 or 4 adults. Would you be looking for power lines over a lake while in a catamaran or be concentrating on steering and keeping it upright.

We took 74 scouts with 20 adults canoeing for a week in the Michigan UP. Had one kid get lost going to the bathroom. Found him two hours later. Two swamped a canoe and required rescuing. No body was looking to blame anyone, we all just worked together to fix the problem.

Agree on prayers to those involved.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Spent many yrs with scouts on outings. BSA is already very risk adverse, tons of paperwork, training, etc required for an outing like this.
Very sad that it happened, my heart goes out to the families.

 

[Sigarms]

I was a Boy Scout Leader for 12 years and things happen fast when you have a few dozen kids and 3 or 4 adults. Would you be looking for power lines over a lake while in a catamaran or be concentrating on steering and keeping it upright.

I agree.

However the question would be why would you have a live power line over a lake that a sailboat would be on that could come in contact with that live wire?

I'm not blaming the the kids or the parents there, I'm blaming the situation where the wire was allowed to kill. It's one thing to die of stupidity or of nature itself (which can happen), but this was a man catastrophy.

buckeye farmer, I'm still participate in BSA, and I agree, tons of paperwork LOL

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I understood it was a troop Outing and not a normal scout camp?

 

[Sigarms]

I understood it was a troop Outing and not a normal scout camp?

Correct.

Could you ever imagine a scout camp having a hot wire going across a lake the boys would use? At worst, if you have a hot wire going across water that people could be boating on, you warn them about the possible dangers of the wire.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

That looks like a large public lake also.

 

[Sigarms]

That looks like a large public lake also.

Which common sense tells you (yes, that dreaded word) that you only increase the odds of something bad happening with a live hot wire over water, particularly if it's low enough that a sail boat can hit it.

That said, perhaps something happened to the wire to lower it. Why I'm curious as to what they find out.

 

[dmccarty]

...
That said, perhaps something happened to the wire to lower it. Why I'm curious as to what they find out.

My thought when I read the story was that the line must have been pulled down for some reason. Tree fall perhaps? Having said that, of the three large public lakes I am familiar I can't think of any power lines across the water that would be hit by a sail boat. The only one I can remember that does have power lines, they happen to be transmission lines on large towers that seem to be high enough that an ocean going sailboat could safely cross under.

Horrible tragedy.

We have had too many drownings on our local lakes this year. It has been a bad year.

Later,
Dan

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Im wondering if the line crossed up in a cove, and something fell that caused it to hang low.

 

[Sigarms]

We have had too many drownings on our local lakes this year. It has been a bad year.

Later,
Dan

We've had a lot of local drownings in our area as well. Seems to be people who go into lakes to swim and for whatever reason, can't swim. Go figure.

What rips me apart with these scouts is they were wearing life jackets. That tells me something. I use to be a pretty good swimmer (and can still swim a mile no problem) and the one thing I find ironic is ANYIME I'm on a boat in water, I wear a life jacket. Don't know how many guys who are out of shape go onto a boat and don't wear a life jacket because they think they can swim. Thing is, accidents can happen, and you may not be awake to swim if you're out of a boat.

These boys did the right thing by wearing vests. This tells me that they we're practicing basic safety procedures.

Again, will just have to wait until we find out more. Again, just find it strange that a live hot wire would be over a body of water that people frequent.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Looking at the lake on google maps i saw 3 places where power lines cross, 2 places, the same line crosses twice, not too far from a boat ramp.

 

[Sigarms]

Looking at the lake on google maps i saw 3 places where power lines cross, 2 places, the same line crosses twice, not too far from a boat ramp.

The question becomes why something like this hasn't happened sooner.

Perhaps sailboats have height restrictions that weren't noticed (can't see them knowingly ignore a warning). Won't know until a report comes out.

Perhaps it's just me, but I can't really remember any "lake areas" that had power lines directly over water. Do know I'd be a little leary if I saw something like that. My first thought would be what if a line were to hit the water and I was in the water.

Somewhat interesting read...

Don't Get Zapped By Cable Clearance Over Water

 

[KubotainNH]

This is sad. I sometimes read the article comments for local people's thoughts. This one has this:

"About 35 years ago, an attorney from Marshall, I think, was killed when the mast of his sailboat struck the high line on this same lake. You would think the Corps would have warnings when the lake is high."

 

[Sigarms]

This is sad. I sometimes read the article comments for local people's thoughts. This one has this:

"About 35 years ago, an attorney from Marshall, I think, was killed when the mast of his sailboat struck the high line on this same lake. You would think the Corps would have warnings when the lake is high."

Found it...

Death of three scouts similar to 1982 electrocution on Lake O' t - KLTV.com - Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |ETX News

 

[KubotainNH]

Looking at one of the pictures on that link it looks like it wouldn't be that hard to move the wire closer to the bridge. This will push something to change.

 

[MossRoad]

Seems each year around here someone dies in a lake wading in to get their dog that's having a seizure when it turns out a well pump pulling water from the lake is malfunctioning and the dog is getting electrocuted, and so does the person attempting to save the dog, and the next person that goes, in and sometimes the third person before someone figures out what's happening and shuts off the breaker.

 

[kthompson]

Ground fault breakers.

It is sad and as only about a year ago we bought a boat after not having one for 30 years and now running on heavy developed Intracoastal Waterway a good bit seeing signs about transmission lines and pipelines realize how dangerous it is.

As to the boys it is sad and I do pray they were ready.