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Comment by mdorazio | Hacker News Reader

I don't understand this. Fiberglass is non-conductive, so that's not really a reason to not use non-wood ladders. It is also generally stronger and more durable for the same weight.

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Every fiber glass ladder I've seen has aluminum caps at both ends and aluminum steps.

As long as those steps and caps are connected with fiberglass sides, what’s the issue?

At high voltages the electricity may be able to arc between the steps. Electricity will do some pretty incredible things at high voltages. Check out this video of some idiots turning a powerline into a Jacob's ladder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yBTHrXEK4U

That video was awesome.

I'm guessing that the types of ladders SFFD are using aren’t going to be anywhere near power lines of that high a voltage.

I can't tell what, if anything, they were doing besides filming.

i think a weight tied to thin uninsulated wire, thrown like a baseball over the lines

At the voltage needed to arc between aluminum steps you've got a lot bigger problems than worrying about your ladder. A quick search shows overhead trolley cables deliver 600V DC. Not exactly "turning air to plasma" level there. The rest of the overhead cables firefighters should encounter are the same normal residential 34kV lines you see everywhere (data tables show an air arc distance under 2 inches) unless I'm missing something.

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