I saw a high voltage line starting to short out in Anaheim one night. When I called the PG&E emergency number the voice got more interested when I said (truthfully) "Look, I am a Registered Professional Engineer and I know the difference between the sparks caused by dirty insulators and a full short in a 240,000 KVA line." Ten minutes later a big work truck and crew were outside my door so I could give them exact directions. Twenty minutes later I got a call from the crew chief, "Thank you, thank you, that was the main feed to Newport Beach and we got there just in time."

If they had ignored me, my neighbor was an executive with the local Baby Bell. I would have told him and let him hit them at a higher level.