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You Don’t Mess With the Big Guy

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Pay Attention to Whose House You're About to Burgle

 A PAIR OF LOW-LIFE COPPER THIEVES in Houston, Texas, decided to strip the electric cables feeding the Westway Baptist Church one day last week.  It was expected to be easy pickings because, after all, nobody's there on weekdays, right?  Or maybe there is.

The two thieves were captured on a surveillance camera pulling up to the church lot and then going over to the meter box/connection with a set of bolt cutters.

For some reason, they were surprised when the power that they thought they had interrupted was still on and a massive flash bit them back, setting the bolt cutter-wielder on fire and running away.  The arc was so strong that it literally welded the bolt cutters to the cable.

ABC News

They went away empty-handed, and missing some tools, but at least one of them needed medical attention.  The police have sent notices to all the area hospitals to be on the lookout for suspicious burn victims, but so far they have not been located.  But their punishment has already begun, no doubt.

ABC Television News posted a video report from the scene that includes the explosive surveillance tape HERE.

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Posted by on December 17, 2012 • Filed under: crime, current events, Fire Rescue Topics • Tagged: ,

Bungling Copper Thief Blows Up Six Houses

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Man Arrested For Foul Deed

THIEVES TRYING TO DISMANTLE an electric service line in Yorkshire, England, last week gave up on their effort and left the wires dangling at the rear of a block of rowhouses in Castleford.  The situation came to the attention of the fire brigade around 1:30 am Friday, July 8 when they were called out for a series of several small fires behind the homes.

Realizing the imminent danger that the arcing wires were producing, the firefighters evacuated the entire block and got about 30 residents out of their sleep and into the street just moments before the hazard triggered an explosion that destroyed two houses and  damaged four others. 

West Yorkshire Fire – Rescue image

The firefighters had just removed the last two occupants who needed to be removed by ladders when the a large explosion occurred.  This fire brigade video documentation of the incident captured the blast and you can see just how close they came to losing some firefighters:

 

A spokesman for the West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service told the press: 'If the house had exploded only seconds earlier, there is no doubt in my mind that it would have killed or seriously injured the occupants and the firefighters who were risking their lives to rescue them. We can’t stress enough how devastating this could have been.  Instead, they lost their homes and possessions rather than their lives. If people continue to tamper with equipment on the electricity network, it is only a matter of time before more people die.'

BBC News

A 27-yr.-old man has been arrested for implication in the crime and is still being held by Yorkshire Police.  He has not yet been publicly identified and investigation may lead to more arrests.

The Yorkshire Evening Post has MORE.

Harrowgate News

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Posted by on July 16, 2011 • Filed under: crime, explosion, fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , ,