This is my first thread and I'm a little scared so please be gentleI don't know what to make of this and this is why I wanted to bring it before all of you very wise, well read andexperienced people !This morning our local ran a story that seemed not too weird at all. Traffic problem in Dallas aerea due to a power pole on fire. Traffic is stopped in case the pole topples over after it's burned. Not a big deal but I like to watch the live feed on things like that out of boredom I guess.Here's a link to that story .On the local news channel there is a live chat room, so it makes watching live feed a little more interesting.I had no idea how interesting it would get. A chatter comes in and says " i wonder if this is related to the polesburning in central Texas'' . Intrigued I go and find a link for that story. To say it's bizarre is an understatement. If I'm exaggerating, please put me in my place because this is so weird.'''A Department of Public Safety communications officer said power poles in Hill, Falls, Bell, Williamson and McLennan counties mysteriously began bursting into flames at about 4 a.m. Thursday.He said the fires that had been reported were burning at the tops of the poles, some involving transformers.Various power company representatives had been dispatched to survey the damage and several fire departments were sent to douse the flames.''''Link to second story below.Now given my curious nature and from listening to many theories on this very site, I'm thinking to myself '' wow, what are the odds? '' The more I read , the more intrigued I am.Notice in the second story, they never actually mention HOW MANY poles burned? It sounds like a lot ,but if they said the actual number ( 43, 67 maybe 130 ) wouldn't people really take interest and demand some explanations? I find it very curious they never say the exact number of poles burning. They mention''As many as 30 power poles were burning in one area of Hill County, just off Interstate 35 at mile marker 361.As many as 20 poles were reported burning in Bynum east of Hillsboro and and others in the Aquilla area where some customers were without power.'''So here they've noted at least FIFTY burning poles within one small community and near one small town. Yet the report says over 5 counties, so there must be dozens more.Also the report says ""One power company technician told a News 10 reporter near McGregor that the fires likely were caused by a build up of dust on transformers that shorted out due to low-lying fog.'''This one is laughable. I know very , very little about electricity but I do know a lot about dust. While I could buy ONE pole spontaneously bursting into flames due to a dust buildup, there is no way I would ever imagine at least 50 + poles catching fire from dust at the same time. This is Texas. It's dusty here and we are in a drought. If this were the case, wouldn't hundreds of poles catch fire daily ? And what is with them only burning at the top ?I spoke to a friend today about this. He mentioned the possibility of solar flares, but I am woefully uneducated in that so I cannot comment.I'm left wondering about some type of 'different' or ' alternative' power surge that went through the entire grid, perhaps just leaving weak or older transformers susceptible to catching fire. It sounds far fetched, but I'm only guessing. It's a real head scratcher.I welcome any comments or guesses or ideas. It's a real mystery ! tks