Massive explosion and fire at ESB substation caused by copper wire thieves

RIGHTisRIGHT

THE MASSIVE FIRE at an ESB substation in Dublin that left thousands of homes without power on Sunday night was caused by thieves attempting to steal copper wire, the electricity company has said.
Around 120,000 customers had their supply cut off after a blaze broke out at a transformer in the substation on Kylemore Way, in the Inchicore area of west Dublin
The company said in a statement that an investigation has found the fire was caused by “third-party interference” at the site. The overall cost of the incident to the utility is estimated at up to €10 million, a spokesperson said.

Well that was Friday maybe if a description was released it might help jog peoples memories.
This event caused chaos in Tallaght Hospital on Monday because of computer systems going down.

Here is another case from two years ago.

THIEVES climbed an electricity pylon at a Wicklow farm and cut high voltage wires before stealing more than €100,000 worth of copper wire,enough to stretch the length of two football pitches.
Gardai have not yet made arrests in the case but are probing whether the crime was carried out by either eastern European criminals or a Traveller gang.Amazingly, no-one was injured during the course of the theft.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/thieves-scale-live-esb-pylon-to-steal-100k-of-copper-30589896.html

The_Valeyard

Pity they didn't get electrocuted.

SnakePlissken

Ah sure all dat copper was just lying there boss

vicwatson

Brave or insane these dudes

Dave0JV

I've heard of this happening in small locales but never anything quite this big :O

Allinall

It's shocking, Joe.

emo72

That stuff was there since electrification. Lying there for about a hundred years. And all of a sudden gangs decide "Ya know lads, we'll have that". Mad. Obvious stuff that no one ever thought to steal, what's next?

SEPT 23 1989

their rich culture adding so much to the tapestry of Irish life

Harry Palmr

They should be plugged in to the mains!

Flatzie_poo

vicwatson wrote: »

Brave or insane these dudes

Where along the lines does "bravery" come into stealing?

kneemos

Seems to be incredibly valuable stuff.

Alun

THIEVES climbed an electricity pylon at a Wicklow farm and cut high voltage wires before stealing more than €100,000 worth of copper wire,enough to stretch the length of two football pitches.

I thought most overhead HV cables were aluminium, not copper because of the weight?

fuerte1976

kneemos wrote:

Seems to be incredibly valuable stuff.

It's invaluable if someone is kept alive in a hospital..

ted1

RIGHTisRIGHT wrote: »

Well that was Friday maybe if a description was released it might help jog peoples memories.
This event caused chaos in Tallaght Hospital on Monday because of computer systems going down.

Here is another case from two years ago.

In all fairness critical systems should be on a UPS.

stoplooklisten

Is McNulty on the case? He's in charge of The Wire!

emo72

when this happened before it was foreign gangs, so I wouldn't be too quick to assume it was our local lads. Just to be fair lads. Not that it makes a difference. Bad is bad the world over.

stoplooklisten

emo72 wrote: »

when this happened before it was foreign gangs, so I wouldn't be too quick to assume it was our local lads. Just to be fair lads. Not that it makes a difference. Bad is bad the world over.

English with Irish heritage or further afield? I don't remember what happened the last time.

emo72

stoplooklisten wrote: »

English with Irish heritage or further afield? I don't remember what happened the last time.

Eastern European I thought. Very industrious workers.

Boom_Bap

Did they not watch Friday Night Lights and see how this ruined Tim Riggins?

Irish Stones

This happens on daily basis here in Italy.
Copper wires and roof gutters (are made of copper here) are stolen everyday.
In over 95% of cases the culprits are Eastern European people, namely Romanian, who don't care at all what those wires were supplying, a hospital, a railway, a neighbourhood.
Last news we had of such a fact was yesterday when the stolen wires left a highway tunnel dark and four people died in a car crash.
Last winter a whole railway line got halted for the same reason.
Luckily enough some of those thieves do not succed in their task and are found incinerated next to the wires they were going to steal

Another good material for thieves is cast iron, mainly used for manhole covers.
Three years ago I woke up on a morning a found out that all the covers in my street had been stolen overnight. Just imagine what would have happened is some car would drive over an uncovered manhole! :eek:

MajorMax

Culture, boss

kneemos

Irish Stones wrote: »

This happens on daily basis here in Italy.
Copper wires and roof gutters (are made of copper here) are stolen everyday.
In over 95% of cases the culprits are Eastern European people, namely Romanian, who don't care at all what those wires were supplying, a hospital, a railway, a neighbourhood.
Last news we had of such a fact was yesterday when the stolen wires left a highway tunnel dark and four people died in a car crash.
Last winter a whole railway line got halted for the same reason.
Luckily enough some of those thieves do not succed in their task and are found incinerated next to the wires they were going to steal

Another good material for thieves is cast iron, mainly used for manhole covers.
Three years ago I woke up on a morning a found out that all the covers in my street had been stolen overnight. Just imagine what would have happened is some car would drive over an uncovered manhole! :eek:

Apparently the Romanians have adopted the method of waiting awhile for them to hook the cable to the back of the Jeep and turning the power back on.

Fairly extreme,but they be crazy over there.

FTA69

Alun wrote: »

I thought most overhead HV cables were aluminium, not copper because of the weight?

They're both I think, armoured cable. A lot of the time they burn the aluminium off in a pyre before retrieving the copper.

gramar

"The company said in a statement that an investigation has found the fire was caused by “third-party interference” at the site. The overall cost of the incident to the utility is estimated at up to €10 million, a spokesperson said"

Sounds like someone was tinkering around with those wires.

Foxhound38

What a beautiful display of a noble culture... boss

diomed

If they are stealing, they are selling, and someone is buying.
Are they stealing to order?

conorhal

Have we licenced scrap merchants, banned them from making cash payments and required them to register their purchases and document both seller and the providence of their goods?
No, of course not, which is why a lot of this practice continues, because Ireland doesn't do joined up thinking, proper and enforced regulation or care for tackling problems at their root cause.
Nor has revenue bothered to crawl up the arse, with a microscope, of everybody living in Rathkeale driving a 161 D reg BMW 4x4.

12Phase

Simple thing is the scrap metal dealer accepting this should be charged for being in receipt of stolen goods and the book thrown at them.

Also, it's bloody hard to get a large quantity of scrap metal out of Ireland without being noticed. It's not like large quantities of ESB lines or telephone wiring are disposed of on a regular basis through unusual channels.

While I can see it being an issue where you've porous land borders. It really shouldn't be a big difficulty in Ireland to make life very hard for anyone attempting to do this.

kneemos

12Phase wrote: »

Simple thing is the scrap metal dealer accepting this should be charged for being in receipt of stolen goods and the book thrown at them.

Also, it's bloody hard to get a large quantity of scrap metal out of Ireland without being noticed. It's not like large quantities of ESB lines or telephone wiring are disposed of on a regular basis through unusual channels.

While I can see it being an issue where you've porous land borders. It really shouldn't be a big difficulty in Ireland to make life very hard for anyone attempting to do this.

Interesting point.Do we have smelting facilities or is it exported in bulk?
Might not be that hard to hide in a container full of copper cylinders and various odds and ends.

jackofalltrades

ESB substations should look like an RUC Station during the troubles.
They know they're going to be targeted and should have appropriate defences.

That said there needs to be proper regulation of the scrap industry and cash for gold shops.
For the life of me I don't know why the government haven't already done this, given the crime that these industries fuel.

Dyr

Electric chair for them, just for the ironing

Ronald Wilson Reagan

emo72 wrote: »

That stuff was there since electrification. Lying there for about a hundred years. And all of a sudden gangs decide "Ya know lads, we'll have that". Mad. Obvious stuff that no one ever thought to steal, what's next?

Your soul.

Sofa King Great

It is a symptom of the lack of regulation of the scrap metal industry. All scrap dealers should be registered and forced to maintain a register of what they take in. Also, payment should be a minimum of 5 days after the person gives over the scrap metal. You'd be less inclined to bring in stolen goods if there was a chance the gardai would be waiting when you went to pick up your cheque 5 days later.

SEPT 23 1989

Sofa King Great wrote: »

It is a symptom of the lack of regulation of the scrap metal industry. All scrap dealers should be registered and forced to maintain a register of what they take in. Also, payment should be a minimum of 5 days after the person gives over the scrap metal. You'd be less inclined to bring in stolen goods if there was a chance the gardai would be waiting when you went to pick up your cheque 5 days later.

passport ID

verifiable VAT number

traceable bank transfer

dinorebel

Irish Stones wrote: »

Three years ago I woke up on a morning a found out that all the covers in my street had been stolen overnight. Just imagine what would have happened is some car would drive over an uncovered manhole! :eek:

Everyday driving in Ireland

12Phase

We need to start here but it should be done EU wide too.
This nonsense could be shut down easily enough with a few simple measures.

The flying mouse

conorhal wrote: »

Have we licenced scrap merchants, banned them from making cash payments and required them to register their purchases and document both seller and the providence of their goods?
No, of course not, which is why a lot of this practice continues, because Ireland doesn't do joined up thinking, proper and enforced regulation or care for tackling problems at their root cause.
Nor has revenue bothered to crawl up the arse, with a microscope, of everybody living in Rathkeale driving a 161 D reg BMW 4x4.

12Phase wrote: »

Simple thing is the scrap metal dealer accepting this should be charged for being in receipt of stolen goods and the book thrown at them.

Also, it's bloody hard to get a large quantity of scrap metal out of Ireland without being noticed. It's not like large quantities of ESB lines or telephone wiring are disposed of on a regular basis through unusual channels.

While I can see it being an issue where you've porous land borders. It really shouldn't be a big difficulty in Ireland to make life very hard for anyone attempting to do this.

kneemos wrote: »

Interesting point.Do we have smelting facilities or is it exported in bulk?
Might not be that hard to hide in a container full of copper cylinders and various odds and ends.

Law brought in since 2012
Cash payments for scrap metal are to be made illegal, and merchants will have to keep records of the name and address of their suppliers.

Metal facilities will also have to keep precise records of vehicles delivering the metal, and the amount paid for the materials. The supplier will also have to provide a signed statement that they are the owner of the scrap.

https://www.google.es/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjXwbnttp3MAhVMfRoKHffrCRwQFghGMAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.ie%2Firish-news%2Fnew-rules-for-scrap-dealers-to-combat-metal-theft-28903438.html&usg=AFQjCNGsWB6BW_kYNtM5t5IXu3-15DaaYw&sig2=I28lIMSEmiZymFOZEx-X2A

Also the copper etc is melted down in illegal smelting furnaces dotted around the country and then exported out in ingots with legalised scrap exports,There is a fair amount of turning the back on where the ingots actually came about but sure there is thousands to be made by everyone :(

The flying mouse

12Phase wrote: »

I say this of major concern to you with that username :D:pac::P

RayM

I wonder what bothers people more about this - the crime itself or the fact that it may or may not have been carried out by members of an ethnic group, of whom they have an irrational hatred.

Rattser

RayM wrote: »

I wonder what bothers people more about this - the crime itself or the fact that it may or may not have been carried out by members of an ethnic group, of whom they have an irrational hatred.

They're not a seperate ethnic group from the rest of us.

uck51js9zml2yt

Very easy to get it out of the country.
Put it in a van and drive less than 2 hours north
Job done.

Cienciano

Most copper theft these days is done by foreign gangs. They normally take down live lines though

DrumSteve

Cienciano wrote: »

Most copper theft these days is done by foreign gangs. They normally take down live lines though

Jaysus, better let Joe know.

valoren

Allinall wrote: »

It's shocking, Joe.

I heard it on the wireless!

Radharc na Sleibhte

RayM wrote: »

I wonder what bothers people more about this - the crime itself or the fact that it may or may not have been carried out by members of an ethnic group, of whom they have an irrational hatred.

I'm only bothered they didn't fry themselves.

12Phase

The flying mouse wrote: »

12Phase wrote: »

I say this of major concern to you with that username :D:pac::P

Yeah you should see the bill! 3 phase is bad enough

conorhal

The flying mouse wrote: »

Law brought in since 2012
Cash payments for scrap metal are to be made illegal, and merchants will have to keep records of the name and address of their suppliers.

Metal facilities will also have to keep precise records of vehicles delivering the metal, and the amount paid for the materials. The supplier will also have to provide a signed statement that they are the owner of the scrap.

https://www.google.es/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjXwbnttp3MAhVMfRoKHffrCRwQFghGMAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.ie%2Firish-news%2Fnew-rules-for-scrap-dealers-to-combat-metal-theft-28903438.html&usg=AFQjCNGsWB6BW_kYNtM5t5IXu3-15DaaYw&sig2=I28lIMSEmiZymFOZEx-X2A

Also the copper etc is melted down in illegal smelting furnaces dotted around the country and then exported out in ingots with legalised scrap exports,There is a fair amount of turning the back on where the ingots actually came about but sure there is thousands to be made by everyone :(

I see that two years after that article they were still talking about it but I don't see the legislation:
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/d%C3%A1il-to-debate-bill-on-regulation-of-scrap-metal-1.1838794

And then there's the question of what kind of inspection regime is put in place to enforce it. We're great in this country for enacting legislation (which I don't think we have in this case) but not all that great at doing anything after that.

Dravokivich

ted1 wrote: »

In all fairness critical systems should be on a UPS.

Eh... They don't last all that long. They are designed to allow you to power down computer equipment and to minimise damage during a power outage.

gctest50

Dravokivich wrote: »

Eh... They don't last all that long. They are designed to allow you to power down computer equipment and to minimise damage during a power outage.

Eh...tell cat dat

you only need them until the generators wake up and have a bit of a stretch and get going anyway

poa

Well since the Rathkeale Rovers are in jail now and no longer selling dodgy generators and stealing rhino horns; I suppose money has to be found for the weddings and jeeps in other ways.
It could be Eastern Europeans doing it for export, but they are mainly into stealing high-end cars to order and stripping them for parts for export. The profit margin in car parts is higher than scrap metal.
In London there was a gang cutting catalytic convertors off cars and weighing them in, but they have been caught.
I remember in the early 2000's in the UK they were stealing aluminium road signs. So the councils began replacing them with plastic ones and putting stickers on the back to say they weren't metal so don't bother stealing it.

ted1

Dravokivich wrote: »

Eh... They don't last all that long. They are designed to allow you to power down computer equipment and to minimise damage during a power outage.

Rubbish, some are. Any UPS that is spec'd right will keep critical systems going for hours or until the backup genie gets going.

Why do you think that they are called uninterruptible power supply??