DOMLEC prides itself on its reliable delivery of electrical energy to the public and is committed to continual improvement of its methods to mitigate impacts on reliability.
In previous years during the dry season, DOMLEC’s reliability was affected due to the destruction of poles caused by bush fires. This caused a number of outages, resulting in inconvenience to customers and loss of revenue.
Figure 1 -Destruction of poles caused by bush fire in the heights of Colihaut in 2019
One of the ways DOMLEC mitigates against this challenge is the use of Fire Guard Wrap.
The Osmose Fire Guard Wrap has a coating applied to a fiberglass substrate that is designed to protect all species and treatments of wood utility poles from fire damage. The latex-based formula provides excellent flame resistance and can withstand years of outdoor use.
Figure 2- Installation of the Fire Guard Wrap
In 2020, DOMLEC began the installation of Fire Guard Wraps on all poles in locations susceptible to bush fires, particularly those on the west coast between Dublanc to Canefield. To date, we have seen a significant decrease in the number of outages due to bush fires because of the protection afforded by Fire Guard Wraps (see Figure 3 below). As we work toward our goal of 100% reliability, DOMLEC continues to install more of these effective fire protections.
Figure 3- The impact of the Fire Guard Wraps after a large bush fire in the heights of Mahaut in 2020
Recently, the DOMLEC team discovered areas where Fire Guards are being removed from the poles by members of the public. Such activity is detrimental to the reliability of the supply of electricity, and DOMLEC condemns this action and calls on the public to report any such activity. We urge the perpetrators to desist from destruction of DOMLEC’s property as this behavior is both detrimental to reliability of energy supply and can result in legal action.
We thank the public for their cooperation in this regard.
Figure 4- destruction of Fire Guard Wraps 2021
