The Influence of Wood Pole Preservatives on Wood Fire and Electrical Safety

The electrical performance of two water-borne wood pole preservatives (ACA and CCA) has been compared to that, of pentachlorophenol preservatives. Laboratory tests have indicated that for water-borne preservative treated poles, fire inception currents are two to three times greater than for comparable penta- chlorophenol treated poles. This is likely due to different pole fire evolution mechanisms. Wood pole and hazard models are developed and augmented with fleld tests to demonstrate that, from the point of view of pole contact near ground level, a comparable degree of safety exists with both water-borne and oil-borne preservative treatments under normal operating conditions. With fire inception currents flowing, poles treated with water-borne preservatives could result in painful shocks.