The BCUC needs to reverse the FortisBC and BC Hydro wireless applications or be accountable legally as well

Michael Smyth: Is Hydro playing smoke and mirrors over smart-meter fires?

BY MICHAEL SMYTH, THE PROVINCE AUGUST 24, 2014

Langley resident Luc De Beir says a smart meter caused a fire at his cabin near Prince George. A neighbour said a power pole (pictured) had caught fire at its base, where a new smart meter had been installed, and fell over.
Photograph by: Submitted, Luc De Beir

B.C. Hydro insists its spiffy new smart meters have not caused any fires, even though the technology has been blamed for blazes in other jurisdictions. That includes Saskatchewan, where the government just decided to get rid of smart meters after a series of electrical fires there.
Photograph by: Submitted, Luc De Beir

B.C. Hydro insists its spiffy new smart meters have not caused any fires, even though the technology has been blamed for blazes in other jurisdictions.
That includes Saskatchewan, where the government just decided to get rid of smart meters after a series of electrical fires there.
B.C. Hydro says it uses a different brand of meter from SaskPower, and no fires have been confirmed here.
Luc De Beir begs to differ.

De Beir, 63, is a project co-ordinator at the University of B.C. and a construction manager who runs his own company in Langley. He blames a smart meter for a February 2013 fire at his summer home near Prince George.

De Beir was not at his Eaglet Lake vacation property when concerned neighbours noticed smoke and went to investigate.

The neighbours say an electrical utility pole had caught fire near its base. It smouldered, burned through the pole and fell over.
Luc De Beir begs to differ.

De Beir, 63, is a project co-ordinator at the University of B.C. and a construction manager who runs his own company in Langley. He blames a smart meter for a February 2013 fire at his summer home near Prince George.

De Beir was not at his Eaglet Lake vacation property when concerned neighbours noticed smoke and went to investigate.

The neighbours say an electrical utility pole had caught fire near its base. It smouldered, burned through the pole and fell over.
“The meter base is the property and responsibility of the homeowner,” the letter stated. “If deficiencies are discovered within the meter base when our meter is removed, it is the customer’s responsibility to arrange for repairs to their equipment.”

But De Beir thinks Hydro is just trying to duck responsibility for the fire.

“I wasn’t home when they installed the smart meter. They just came onto the property and installed it without my knowledge, and no one told me there were any ‘deficiencies’ with the base, which worked fine for years with an analog meter.”

The story seemed unusual, so I contacted Hydro for more information. It got stranger from there.

“We sent a crew to investigate and I can confirm a smart meter was never installed on that pole,” Hydro spokesman Greg Alexis told me.
“We installed a smart meter on the side of a shed, not a pole,” Alexis said, suggesting it must have been the old analog meter that burned that fateful day.

De Beir was stunned by that.

“That’s not true,” he said. “They put a smart meter on that pole and I can show you a picture to prove it.”

De Beir said it was only a fluke that he happened to take a picture of the smart meter on the pole a few months before the fire. I sent the picture to Hydro.

“There was a smart meter installed on the pole,” said Alexis, who blamed an address mix-up for the error. “But there is still no evidence that it caused the fire.”

One final twist: No one knows what happened to the burned smart meter. De Beir says a Hydro work crew took it away. But Alexis said there is no record that happened or that Hydro has the burned meter in its possession.
So did a smart meter cause a fire or not? Tough to say without the crucial piece of evidence — and many other smart-meter mishaps are equally inconclusive.

Documents obtained by The Coalition To Stop Smart Meters show there have been other complaints of smart-meter fires, but all liability claims have been rejected by B.C. Hydro.

An August 2012 “fire in a meter base” occurred at the Sparwood post office about four hours after a smart meter was installed there, according to a B.C. Safety Authority report released under freedom-of-information laws.

“The cause was not determined,” the report said.

Official B.C. Hydro “Significant Incident and Event” reports obtained by the group under FOI also mention smart-meter mishaps, including:

Coquitlam: “Smart meter installed July 2012. Preliminary investigation indicates excessive consumption load over-heated socket and created fire.”

Langley: “Broken socket jaw made contact with meter socket during meter exchange. Arcing led to fire at meter location, continued to burn through neutral conductor and onto coax TV cable.”

Abbotsford: “Abbotsford Fire Dept. reported an incident where a homeowner claimed his newly-installed smart meter was smoking and he proceeded to get his camera to take a picture of it. Supposedly, while taking the picture, the smart meter shot off the wall — this has not been verified, there is no photo and there is no further information.”

All most intriguing. But where there is smoke, there is not necessarily a smart-meter fire, says B.C. Hydro.
“We have looked at these incidents and there isn’t a single case here of a fire caused by a B.C. Hydro smart meter,” said Alexis, adding “customer wiring” can be defective and cause problems, not Hydro’s smart meters.

“There have been fewer residential structure fires associated with electricity in the province since B.C. Hydro started installing smart meters in 2011,” he said.

Earlier this month, Saskatchewan ordered their smart meters to be replaced after nine reports of fires there.

British Columbia shows no intention of going down the same path, insisting any fires here are the fault of customers’ equipment, not Hydro’s new smart meters.

msmyth@theprovince.com

twitter.com/MikeSmythNews

Comments by Curtis Bennett

September 9, 2014, at 21:58 Eastern Time

Curtis Bennett commented on an article.

The BCUC needs to reverse the FortisBC and BC Hydro wireless applications or be accountable legally as well. I was a Registered Intervener in the FortisBC application and it was rubber stamped or they would have had to reverse the BC Hydro smart meter program that was allowed to bypass all regulatory process. FortisBC Engineer Mark Warren admitted under direct cross examination that FortisBC would irradiate 17,000 sq. Kms. Prior to cross examining FortisBC "experts" here are the questions I asked FortisBC on the cost of wired versus wireless meters. This is the link to the BCUC website and it was the BCUC that made a ruling that FortisBC didn't have to answer the questions. http://www.bcuc.com/Documents/Proceedings/2013/DOC_33530_C19-11_WKCC_IR-3.pdf

The questions are relevant today and FortisBC will get sued to extinction. Kelowna as one example will have to shut down their building inspection and all real estate sales because of non compliance with 4.1.3.6 of BC Building Code. Then FortisBC will be sued for taking EMFs to the homes of pacemaker recipients where BC Health Authority has told them to stay out of an EMF. Kelowna has their own liabilities as their electrical manager was informed but did not respond in any capacity."

Editor's Note:

The following comment contains profanity.

September 9, 2014, at 12:44 am Eastern Time

Curtis Bennett commented on an article:

BC Hydro is lying their asses off when it comes to fire issues and they need to be held accountable including prosecution to the full extent of the law. BC Hydro officials that allowed this frequency and biological weapon as applied will be accountable for their reckless endangerment of the public. Rich Coleman, Gary Murphy, Dag Sherman, Perry Kendall, Premier Campbell to name a few were warned by BC Government Certified Electrical Professionals that under NO circumstances would we allow contractors with 2 weeks training to TOUCH live electrical equipment. Kendall was told the dangers of the EMFs was lectured for education credits required for ongoing medical licensing but he chose political party over medicine and now he needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The meter base is the home owners and the contractors created the fire hazard with their negligence. Here is a document that was written for media today for Saskatchewan Power and please read because BC Hydro has to remove 1.9 million meters, re-inspect 1.9 million meter bases and in reality replace them to ensure the electrical integrity of the electrical systems. Then Professional Engineers have to inspect and sign off on 1.9 million buildings because BC Hydro electromagnetically induced the buildings causing them to be non compliant with 4.1.3.6 of BC Building Code under vibration. Then BC Hydro has the liability for the costs as well as the adverse health effects of all the people in the coverage areas. Then there is the eco damage with the blanket radiation of their coverage areas. As I would be responsible in my professional capacity for hurting people, the Auditor General of BC and the Attorney General need to investigate this based on an unprecedented health and environmental emergency. The liability they have created needs to be their own and not taxpayers. People have died from this EMF assault, pacemakers have been interfered with and unrealized damage. All of that is with BC Hydro moving forward with the Specific Absorption Rate test which is a plastic head with water and a temperature probe in it. http://thermoguy.com/smart-meter-fires-installation/

Former Professor Curtis Bennett

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