Copper and Brass hefts

[ultrarunner]

I left the Hospital were I work at midnight last night and a few hours later the head nurse calls to let me know that a toilet on her floor is not working. I asked her if this could have waited until the morning and she said she was just informed that none of the toilets are working.

I get dressed and as I'm pulling into the parking lot, I see a geyser of water shooting up from the front corner of the building. I get out and discover one of the hospital's three 2 inch Back-flow valves missing, pipe and all, another is severed and the third has saw marks.

Luckily, Lowe's had enough 2" copper pipe and fittings for me to restore partial water pressure to the facility. I'm beginning to think I live in a third world country... one that requires a fortress state of mind just to survive.

By the way... the Back-flows are (Were) located in plain view, on a major city and state highway, well lit and secured with a cage.

It doesn't make any sense to me, for the few dollars a thief could get selling scrap, to risk going to jail and putting patients lives in jeopardy...

 

[_RaT_]

I left the Hospital were I work at midnight last night and a few hours later I get a call from the head nurse that a toilet is not working on one of the floors. I asked her if this could have waited until the morning and she said that none of the hospital toilets are working.

I get dressed and as I'm pulling up to the place I see a geyser of water shooting up from the front of the building. I get out and discover one of the hospital's three 2 inch Back-flow valves is missing, pipe and all, another is severed on one end and the third has saw marks.

Luckily, Lowe's had enough 2" copper pipe and fitting for me to restore partial water pressure. I beginning to think I live in a third world county... one that requires a fortress state of mind to survive.

By the way... the Back-flows are (Were) located in plain view, on a major city and state highway, well lit and secured with a cage.

It doesn't make any sense to me for the few dollars a thief could get selling scrap to risk going to jail and putting patent's lives in jeopardy...

I see where they want to start making anyone who recylces metal at the metal recylers to have their picture taken, ID's etc. I know from aquaintances that many metal recylers are drug abusers taking metals wherever they can find it be it telephone wire to just what you described. By ID'ing the person, they at least have the ability to have the local police report the stolen metals and throw the bums in jail should all the pieces come together.

 

[ultrarunner]

Interestingly enough, the responding Police Officer said that most of the arrest made involving scrap metal are because of outstanding warrants or drug possession.

The Officer said that once the copper wire is stripped bare, it can't be reliably identified and there is no crime unless it can be linked to a theft.

In my case, the Back-flows have serial numbers and are marked as to size and brand.

Interstate 580 is posted as a scenic freeway and recently, many of the aluminum guardrails have been stolen from overpasses. Same thing happened in the 70's to the same overpasses... go figure.

 

[NewToy]

It amazes me how many low lifes electrocute themselves trying to steal copper from a live circuit. Kind of a harsh penalty but they put themselves in that position. I'm waiting for a law suit by the bereaved family against the power company for not having the wires marked "dangerous, live circuit..Do not steal".

John

 

[czechsonofagun]

In my country they steal it from the railroad too - quite dangerous.

 

[George2615]

There has been a rash of thefts from new home construction in my surrounding area. The thieves come in at night and cut out all the copper in the house and anything else they can steal that they can scrap or sell such as contractors tools etc. No wonder housing prices and insurance keep going higher.

 

[ultrarunner]

Thought I had our thief this afternoon...

This morning I faxed a picture and description of the items stolen to the local scarp metal yards and police department.

This afternoon, I get a call from a detective who wanted me to identify a Wilkens back-flow that was sold for scrap this morning. Turns out the unit is 2" instead of the 1-1/2" taken that I am missing :-(

At least the scrap yard and the police realize it is a problem and are on the lookout... now if we could just figure out where the sawed-off one that was sold today came from...

 

[Casco1]

I call it nature thinning the herd

Two men were electrocuted after cutting through an electric line at a Tyngsborough industrial park Wednesday.

One of the victims was identified as Roland Farland, 58, of Nashua, N.H.

Police said the men may have been trying to steal material from the location.

NewsCenter 5's Sean Kelly reported that the scene initially looked like a tragic accident for two electrical workers, but closer inspection revealed the cause.

"They had made a cut into a wire that they thought was a ground wire, but it turned out to be live," Tyngsborough police officer Richard Burrows said.

They were electrocuted with approximately 13,000 volts of electricity.

National Grid workers shut the power off so that emergency crews could pull the men away from the sub-station. They spotted freshly-cut copper wire. Some of it had been piled next to the victims' pickup truck.

"They're not dressed like workers and they do not have any of the equipment that they would normally have and the area was secured and they had gone through the area," Burrows said.

The property owner of the former plastic manufacturing warehouse told police that neither man belonged there, and police said they did not appear to be electricians.

Investigators suspect the men intended to steal the expensive copper wire. Police said there have been problems with copper thefts in the area because the price of copper has been so high.

"We're investigating that now. That's what it looks like at this point," Burrows said.

The high-voltage area was locked but police said the two men were able to get inside by pulling open a chain-link fence.

 

[_RaT_]

"I call it nature thinning the herd".

I kind of think of it as chlorine in the gene pool.

 

[Tdog]

OK, whatever it takes to thin the herd is OK with me. A good buddy of mine from New Orleans had 7-8 ft of flood water stand in his house for a couple of weeks after Katrina. After he gutted is house he was looted [as were a lot of others] his copper tubing which was visible once the sheetrock was gone.

Scum of humanity.