Electrical Accidents page 2

Electrical Accidents #2

This page was last updated on 05/06/2010

 

Backhoe Severs buried Electrical Power CABLE

On February 12, 2002, at the construction site for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a backhoe operator struck and severed a buried 240-volt temporary power cable with his backhoe bucket. This tripped a circuit breaker and the operator was not injured.  The contractor reported this as a near miss.  (ORPS Report ORO–ORNL-X10SNS-2002-0001) The buried cable supplied electrical power for the construction of the SNS Front End Building, and was included in surveys for buried electrical lines.  This temporary power line was noted in the original excavation permit, and was marked at the construction site for information.  However, since the cable lay outside the area being excavated, no particular care was taken to preserve its markings, and the markings were substantially obliterated during the excavation.  As the excavation progressed, the height of the earthen mound forming around the excavation became a safety concern, and the excavation crew decided to slope the wall.  This sloping activity entailed digging beyond the area originally planned, and into the location where the temporary power line was buried. The investigation of this occurrence is still ongoing, and there are no formal causal analyses or lessons learned at this time.  However, it appears clear at this point that the excavation permit should have been amended to address the new area being dug.  If done correctly, the amendment process would have identified the buried electrical line from the previous surveys. On January 30, 2002, a similar event involving a backhoe severing a 480-volt buried line occurred near Buildings 52 and 58 at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.  The site utility drawing incorrectly indicated that there were no electrical lines in the vicinity.  (ORPS Report ORO–SURA-TJNAF-2002-0001)  On February 18, 2002, a contractor cut through a 110-volt conduit with his concrete-cutting saw while installing a shower drain line at the Argonne National Laboratory.  As-built drawings were inaccurate, and there had been no instrument surveys for embedded conduits.  (ORPS Report CH-AA-ANLE-ANLEPES-2002-0002)  There were no injuries in either occurrence. The Office of Performance Assessment and Analysis has issued a lessons learned on Electrical Intrusion Events through the Society for Effective Lessons Learned Sharing (SELLS).  This document (Identifier:  HQ-EH-2002-01) can be accessed from the SELLS database at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/ll/listdb.html. The Office of Performance Assessment and Analysis is also requesting information from DOE and subcontractor offices on good practices in excavation and electrical penetration safety.  The scope of electrical intrusion events includes accidental contact or penetration of underground utilities and embedded or hidden utilities within structures (i.e., walls, floors, and ceilings).  These good practices should come from facility programs that have been successful in preventing penetration-type incidents.  We intend to compile this information and share it throughout the DOE complex. Individuals or organizations wishing to respond to this request may contact Jim Snell, (301) 903-4094 or at [email protected].

 

NEARMISS, Firefighters have close call at Delray blaze
By Nancy L. Othón, Staff Writer, Posted March 1 2002

DELRAY BEACH · Firefighters avoided electrocution and disaster Thursday morning as they extinguished a propane tank fire between two homes. Ten-foot-high flames were burning from the 120-gallon propane tank and were extinguished after about 30 minutes when two lieutenants with Delray Beach Fire Rescue’s hazardous materials team walked to the tank to cap a gas leak, said Division Chief Russ Accardi. Lt. Ed Crelin and Lt. Greg Giaconne then noticed that a chain-link fence next to the tank was glowing, looked up and saw that a power line had snapped and was in contact with the fence. “It is a miracle these two guys didn’t get electrocuted,” Accardi said. Firefighters were called to the 2100 block of Southwest 13th Street shortly after 9 a.m. for the fire, which was called in to dispatchers as a “bucket of gas” on fire between two houses, Accardi said. When they arrived, they saw a fire impinging on the propane tank. “For us that’s an urgent situation because it could explode, and it could have leveled a house,” Accardi said. The situation was extremely unpredictable because the firefighters had no idea how long the fire had been burning or whether the tank was close to exploding, Accardi said. “It could take minutes or hours,” he said. “It’s such a dangerous situation for a firefighter to pull up on.” Firefighters took cover behind a tree and immediately began to douse the flames, using a large nozzle that is placed on the ground and is unmanned. The ground monitor, connected to a hose on the fire engine, pumps out 500 gallons a minute and is used specifically for this purpose, Accardi said. The fire started when the live power lines energized the chain-link fence, which in turn ignited scraps from a neighbor’s wood fence next to the propane tank, Accardi said. Rescue workers didn’t know there was a live power line because no one had indicated their power was out or called Florida Power & Light Co. yet, he added. “We are very fortunate that our two guys touching the fence did not get electrocuted,” Accardi said. As if the firefighters weren’t busy enough, Accardi said, a resident ran to the scene of the fire from across the street and reported his house was on fire. Firefighters contained the electrical fire to a single room, Accardi said. Nancy L. Othón can be reached at [email protected] or 561-243-6633.

 

UPDATE, Worker in fatal electrical accident identified
Herald staff

LYNNWOOD — The Snohomish County Medical Examiner on Wednesday identified a boom crane operator who died last week when the crane’s cable struck a power line. William Lee Dunlap, 40, of Tacoma was unloading supplies from a delivery truck at a construction site in the 14000 block of 55th Avenue W. He died of high voltage electrocution in the accident, said Leon Reichle, the Snohomish County medical examiner’s chief investigator. The state Department of Labor and Industries is investigating the accident.

 

Two cable workers electrocuted

Wednesday February 27, 6:55 AM , By Chennaionline News Service

Dindigul, Feb 26: Two cable-laying workers were electrocuted after they came in contact with a high-tension power cable while digging a pit for laying communication cables at Malayakoundanpatti in this district today. Police said a worker was charred to death on the spot as his crowbar pierced a power cable while digging near the railway line. His colleague suffered serious injuries while trying to save him and died on way to hospital. A woman worker who tried to rescue them was also injured and has been hospitalized.

 

Tree-trimmers get the shock of their lives

By Mitch Hotts, Macomb Daily Staff Writer

A downed power line sparks Thursday morning in front of a house on Martin Road in Roseville. A tree-trimming crew working at the scene was thankful that no one was injured when the 4,800-volt power line fell. Members of a tree-trimming crew feel lucky — even blessed — after a live electrical line fell Thursday and touched at least two of them without causing any injuries. The incident happened about 9:45 a.m. on Martin Road near Pinehurst in Roseville as the Michigan Tree Co. prepared to cut down three trees for a homeowner. As the crew set up its crane and equipment, a Detroit Edison primary wire carrying 4,800 volts of electricity fell on a group of four workers. “I just don’t understand it,” company owner Mark Stroh said. “I saw the line and it was sparking; there’s no doubt that it was a live wire. But none of my guys were hurt. Maybe we were just lucky today.” The fallen wire caused a power outage for about 1,000 Edison customers in Roseville that lasted until about 12:30 p.m., according to a spokeswoman for the utility. It was the second time in one week that a power outage left the area along Utica Road between 12 Mile and Common without electricity. On Valentine’s Day, electricity was out for about seven hours because of a similar incident, Edison reported. What caused the line to fall Thursday was not immediately clear. Detroit Edison said the damage in the Feb. 14 incident was caused by tree trimmers. They had no immediate answer for the latest downed wire, but suspect it may have something to do with the tree crews. But Stroh said his crew hadn’t even started its work when the wire fell Thursday morning. “The Edison guy at the scene told me he didn’t have a reason for it falling; there wasn’t a splice or anything like that,” Stroh said. Stroh, who’s been in the tree-trimming business since 1984, said he is at a loss to explain why the wire didn’t electrocute anyone. “My guys just ran when it came down. And then they went to church. We were all scared to death,” he said.

 

Repairman electrocuted in Ozello

Homosassa man killed under a mobile home

02/22/02, Terry Witt

A Homosassa electrician was accidentally electrocuted on the job Thursday in Ozello, according to the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office. James J. Gorman IV, 44, Campbell Street, a father of four, was killed while working under a mobile home at 14290 Sutton Court. Cpl. Derrick Bogart said Gorman’s supervisor found him under the mobile home after Gorman failed to answer several calls to the company radio in his truck. He was working under the trailer and, for whatever reason, he either forgot to shut the power off or a water pipe broke while he was trying to make repairs, Bogart said. Bogart said Gorman, an employee of Suncoast Electric, was found lying in a wet area under the mobile home around 2:28 p.m. He apparently had been repairing a pump motor and was alone at the time. Bogart said Gorman had driven to the Ozello area to do several jobs, among them the pump repair. Gorman’s supervisor was at the site as sheriff’s investigators inspected the area where the accident occurred. He appeared to be badly shaken and would not talk about the incident. No foul play is suspected in the death, Bogart said.

 

UPDATE, Man Survives Power-Line Accident

Monday February 18 01:05 PM EST

A West Palm Beach landscaper was recovering in a local hospital after being electrocuted over the weekend. Pedro Graves was 30 feet up, trimming a tree on 28th Street, when a branch fell on a power line. Firefighters could only watch, because the entire tree was hot with electricity. Florida Power and Light has just a handful on emergency workers on call on weekends, so it took them nearly 40 minutes to get to a place where they could turn off the power. Hanging in the tree, the victim begged his co-workers to shoot him. Finally, the branch touching the live line fell, and rescue crews managed to get the man down. Graves was listed in fair condition Monday at St. Mary’s Medical Center.

 

Worker pleads for death during electrical shock

By Scott McCabe, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, Sunday, February 17, 2002

WEST PALM BEACH — For 40 minutes Saturday, landscaper Pedro Graves hung in a tree 40 feet above the ground, screaming for mercy as electricity coursed through his body. Smoke curled from his head. Foam trickled from his mouth and ears. In Spanish, he cried for a gun, begging his co-workers to shoot him. Below, a dozen burly West Palm Beach rescue workers — trained to throw themselves into danger — could only watch helplessly from the back yard at 215 28th St. The entire tree was hot with electricity and Florida Light & Power was nowhere to be found, West Palm Beach Fire-Rescue spokesman Phil Kaplan said. Finally, the 2-inch thick limb touching the live line burned itself out and fell, and firefighters went to work about 12:20 p.m., using a long ladder, rope, pulleys and a makeshift harness to haul Graves to safety. An FPL worker arrived as this was happening and turned off the power. Graves was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where he was in fair condition Saturday night, a hospital spokesman said. “He’s just plain lucky,” Kaplan said. “In the grand scheme of things, this was not an easy one.” Rescue workers got a call that someone was in the tree at 11:48 a.m. and arrived at 11:50, acting Battalion Chief Cletus Pirtle said. They called the power company at least twice, Kaplan said. FPL got a call at 11:59 a.m. and its worker arrived at 12:32 p.m., company spokesman Mike Schwebel said. “It seems that the regular procedures were taken and the time was reasonable,” Schwebel said. “We’re just relieved that he’s going to be OK.”As normal procedure, FPL will investigate, he said. Neighbor Anthony Harrington was renovating his home with friends at 210 29th St. when he heard Graves’ screams on 28th Street. “Everybody up and down the block heard him scream,” Harrington said. Graves had been trimming a tree when a 10-foot branch fell on a power line connected to the house. Electricity jumped from the branch to the tree to Graves. Graves’ co-workers desperately tried to help, Harrington said. He and his friends had to stop them from raising the aluminum ladder and shocking themselves. When Graves fell limp and silent, the onlookers turned away. They thought Graves was dead. “I couldn’t watch anymore,” said neighbor Philip Scarborough. Within minutes, Graves came to and started screaming again. He continued this way, falling in and out of a screaming consciousness every five minutes or so, witnesses said. As the rain grew heavier, so did Graves’ pain, as the water dripping down the tree became a electrical conduit, Pirtle said. Fire-rescue workers yelled at him not to give up, to think of his family. Graves replied that he wanted to die, he couldn’t hang on. “It was very frustrating,” Pirtle said. “There was nothing we could do.” Pirtle, however, said it was hard to be critical of FPL’s employee — he was told the company had only five workers working three counties Saturday. Even with the electricity turned off, the rescue was tricky. Graves draped himself around a limb and weakly clung to branches. Smoke hung in the damp, rainy air. The ladder steps were slippery. Fire-rescue workers positioned a brown tarpaulin beneath Graves in case he fell. Two medics, Capt. Ron Lauth and Fire Medic Troy Schurter, climbed the ladder and wrapped a florescent yellow, tubular-webbing harness around him. Schurter stepped down the ladder, holding Graves to his chest. In Spanish, Graves moaned, “Water, water.”

 

Tacoma worker electrocuted by power line

Saturday, February 16, 2002, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF and NEWS SERVICES

A man was electrocuted in Tacoma yesterday and another was hurt when a chimney liner they were holding touched a power line. The man who died was standing on scaffolding when the 30-foot metal liner hit the line, according to Tacoma firefighters. The other man was on the ground and was able to perform CPR on his fellow worker, who died later at a nearby hospital. The 1 p.m. incident forced Tacoma Power to cut electricity to more than 1,000 customers in the Hilltop neighborhood for about 25 minutes.

 

Worker electrocuted on farm identified

Moses Lake _ A man who was electrocuted while installing an irrigation system on a farm 71/2 miles east of here was identified Wednesday as Ismael Reynosa Garcia, 28, of Moses Lake. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office said Garcia was using a boom truck to lift the last section of an irrigation circle into place about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday when the boom touched an overhead power line. Garcia fell out of his bucket and the truck caught fire as the boom continued upward and brought the irrigation pipe into contact with two more power lines. Two co-workers were in contact with the truck when it was electrified, but they were able to break free. Sheriff’s officials said Leonardo Oliden Murillo, 32, of Warden, and Jose Antonio Alcala-Macial, 21, of Moses Lake suffered minor burns on their hands. The workers were employed by Center Pivot Assembling Specialist, the Sheriff’s Office said. The state Department of Labor and Industries is investigating the accident.

 

Blast in Manhole Injures 8 Workers

By ELENA GAONA, TIMES STAFF WRITER

An explosion in an underground vault injured eight city workers in the Westlake area Wednesday morning. The Department of Water and Power employees, all men, were about to start working on a cable in the 200 block of North Vermont Avenue when the explosion occurred about 10:35 a.m., said Gale Harris, a DWP spokeswoman. Four workers were inside the manhole and four were on the street, Harris said. The explosion occurred when someone underground touched the cable they were about to begin working on, she said. “They were testing an underground cable line and apparently it was still energized and that caused the explosion,” Harris said. Fumes also might have triggered the explosion, fire officials said. “It was determined to be a … fire that flashes from fumes,” said Jim Wells, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman. When firefighters arrived, there were no flames, but smoke was coming from the vault, he said. Five of the workers suffered minor injuries and were treated at hospitals, Harris said, but three were taken to Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks. Jeff Hanson, 37, of Santa Clarita suffered second- and third-degree burns to the side of his face and his ears and hands. He was in stable condition, said burn center spokesman Larry Weinberg. Earle Hough, 36, of Littlerock suffered minor burns to his face and hands and was in fair condition. David Ybarra, 37, of Hacienda Heights suffered smoke inhalation and burns to his face, ears and shoulder. He was in fair condition, Weinberg said. Harris said the department is still seeking to pinpoint the cause of the explosion. The blast cut electrical power to more than 1,700 residential and a dozen commercial customers, Harris said. Crews were working late Wednesday night to restore power, she said.

 

Hollywood electrical vault blast injures utility workers

LOS ANGELES (AP) – An explosion in an electrical vault beneath a Hollywood street injured several utility workers Wednesday. Four to six workers were being examined by paramedics, Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said. One person was believed to have minor burns. The type of work being done in the vault was not immediately known. A cable spool truck and a work van were parked by the vault entrance at Vermont Avenue and Third Street.

 

2 workmen hurt in electrical accident

UNION-TRIBUNE, February 12, 2002

Two workmen were burned when one touched a live wire on the roof of a group-housing facility in Grant Hill yesterday. The accident occurred at Bay View Transitional Housing on 26th Street, near J Street, at 2:50 p.m., San Diego police said. The men were trying to replace a blown fuse when one of the men touched a live wire with a screwdriver, police said. The resulting explosion burned one man on his hands and forearms, the other on his face. They were taken to UCSD Medical Center’s burn unit.

 

Man burned, may be tied to power outage

Published February 12, 2002

NORTHWEST SIDE — Electrical power was knocked out for about 2,500 Northwest Side customers late Monday night after a man was apparently shocked in the basement of Madonna High School. The unidentified man was listed in critical condition with third-degree burns at Illinois Masonic Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said. At around 11:15 p.m., power went out in an area from Diversey to Cornelia Avenues, between Kenneth and Central Park Avenues, said ComEd spokeswoman Meg Amato. Minutes later, Chicago police officers saw the man wandering near Belmont and Karlov Avenues, near the school. Amato said the man was likely shocked inside the school’s electrical vault. The doors to the vault had been forced open, Amato said. Power was restored to approximately half the area before midnight, and crews were working to restore power to the remaining customers.

 

Electrical worker critically burned

Published February 10, 2002, Chicago Tribune

A 44-year-old electrical contractor suffered severe burns on his face, neck and chest Saturday morning after an electrical short occurred as he was installing equipment at a Northbrook business, fire officials said. Michael Ziemba, whose address was not released, was in critical condition at Loyola University Medical Center with burns over 13 percent of his body, said hospital spokeswoman Sandra Martinez. No fire resulted from the incident at General Binding Corp., 1135 Skokie Blvd., and damage was limited to the electrical room, said Northbrook Fire Department spokesman Phil Costa.

 

Live wire contained at school construction site

By BRIAN DENEAL

ELDORADO – Eldorado firefighters responded to call of an electrical fire at the new high school building at about 10 a.m. Wednesday. On arrival they found a live wire had broken from the overhead line by a construction worker who was operating a forklift used during the brickwork on the building. The forklift was extended as the worker backed up and he did not see the line before snapping it.”It was arcing. It was getting with the program,” Fire Chief Mike McKinnies said. Firefighters remained on the scene until an Illinois Power worker could shut off the electricity. But while power was still in the line, it was apparently a sight to behold.”You could hardly look at it, it was arcing so bad,” McKinnies said. The line dangled about a foot above the ground, and though the situation was a dangerous one, no one was injured. McKinnies said power was off in parts of the city from about 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. requiring some Eldorado students and pupils to eat their lunch in the dark. The power outage resulted in another call, this one at 10:23 a.m. to the 1508 5th St. residence of Charles Jacobs. McKinnies said the power outage caused Jacobs furnace to smoke. There was no damage. A third call came from Roundy’s on U.S. Route 45 south of Eldorado. McKinnies said workers were checking the alarm system and had failed to notify the fire department.

 

UPDATE, Power company cited by OSHA

By C.M. Mortimer TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Tuesday, February 5, 2002

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued four citations against Allegheny Power and proposed penalizing the utility company $20,000 for its role in the accidental death of a lineman in Bell Township last summer. The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Greensburg-based Allegheny Power for four “serious” violations involving the Aug. 10 death of Thomas Louis Moyes, 34, of New Kensington. Allegheny Power Co. said Monday the company intends to exercise its right to contest the findings. “We’re not disagreeing with the findings, just the language in the citations. The four subject areas they issued citations for were consistent with our own internal investigation of the accident,” said Allen Staggers, spokesman for Allegheny Power. William J. Sterner, president of Local 102 of the Utility Workers of America, said the union wasn’t satisfied with all of the conclusions reached by OSHA investigators. Let’s just say there are still a lot of unanswered questions as far as we’re concerned. We’re still not satisfied that some of the problems they cite have been abated,” Sterner

said. Chip Moyes, father of the lineman who was killed, said he was angry about the company’s reaction to the death of his son and what he called a lack of compassion. He said nothing can bring back his son, and his only wish is that no other family be subjected to the same grief. “From the day my son died until now, (Allegheny Power) has done nothing. They never even came to the house or called to ask how we were doing,” said the elder Moyes, 56, of New Kensington. Chip Moyes said his son left a daughter who will turn 4 years old next month. Thomas Moyes was electrocuted after coming in contact with a storm-damaged power line in Bell Township. Injured in the accident were co-workers Edward Copney, 39, of Washington Township, and David A. Berkebile, 39, of New Kensington. The three were among a five-man crew of Allegheny Power workers who went to the site of a power outage near Avonmore and the village of Salina in Bell Township, where a storm had knocked out power to about 800 customers. Moyes was the first Allegheny Power lineman killed on the job in 12 years. According to OSHA, the citations were issued because: Workers were not trained in or familiar with safety-related work practices, or safety procedures to repair a downed

conductor while working from the ground. The company did not ensure that the workers maintained a minimum approach distance while splicing a downed

conductor. Insulating sleeves were not used by workers for protection. Temporary protective grounds were not placed or arranged in such a manner as to prevent each worker from being exposed to hazardous differences in electrical potential. As a result of the fatal accident, Allegheny Power meted out suspensions without pay to three crew members for alleged safety violations. In September, Allegheny Power said an internal investigation recommended that in the future crew members conduct a “tailboard” conference before any work is done on downed power lines. The report indicated that Moyes’ crew had repaired a damaged cross-timber on one pole and was attempting to take slack out of the line being replaced when an insulator on the damaged cross-timber shot into the air and caused the line to come into contact with an energized line. That sent 25,000 volts through the line on which Moyes, Copney and Berkebile were working.

 

Mine cited for faulty breaker

By: B.K. NECESSARY of the Daily Telegraph staff, January 31, 2002

GRUNDY, Va. – Immediately following last week’s electrocution death of a Buchanan County coal miner, Virginia mining officials cited the mine for a faulty high voltage circuit breaker which protected the underground high voltage for the mine. The report from the Virginia Dept. of Mines, Minerals and Energy’s Division of Mines said the high voltage circuit breaker for the Mackie J Mine, Inc., in Buchanan County, Va., would not trip creating “an imminent danger to the life or health of persons in the mine.” On Jan. 24, Ronnie Bert Endicott, 42, of Pilgrims Knob, Va., received fatal injuries at Mackie J Coal Company, Inc., after “coming in contact with energized 12,470 VAC power,” according to the VDMME’s Division of Mines report. Mike Abbott, VDDME’s public relations manager, said when the accident occurred, Endicott was working at a site some 2,200 feet underground where he was setting up a section power center which Abbott said was a type of electrical substation for the mine. Abbott said Endicott’s death was the first coal mining fatality for 2002 in Virginia. Abbott said safety inspectors with both the state and the federal Mine, Safety and Health Administra-tion have not determined if the faulty breaker box contributed to the accident or was made faulty as a result of the accident. “A violation was written and the condition was found to exist when the investigation got underway. It is too early in the investigation to say whether or not this condition was a factor in Mr. Endicott’s death,” Abbott said. According to the report, “The switch gear (high voltage circuit breaker) located on the line power surface substation … located on the surface at this mine that provides protection for the underground high voltage circuit for his mine would not trip when treated under a ground fault or over current condition … “The relays would activate but the breaker would not trip. These conditions create an imminent danger, a violation of this act has occurred, which creates an imminent danger to the life or health of persons at the mine.” A total of 40 separate state mine violations were lodged in 2001 against Mackie J Coal Company, Inc., and the mine’s owner Mack Stiltner by the Virginia Dept. of Mines, Minerals and Energy’s Division of Mines according to the agency’s violation records. All 40 violations against Mackie J Coal Co. were corrected according to the report. Some of the violations cited in the state report included inoperative panic systems on equipment, guards or other safety devices removed from machinery, inappropriate methane testing, uncertified workers performing mine tasks, electric equipment and wiring not being properly examined, combustible materials were allowed to accumulate where they could create a fire and inoperative audible warning devices on machines, failure to comply with approved roof control plan, inappropriate ventilation, no records of calibrations on all hand held methane detectors at the mine and coal dust and other combustible materials were allowed to accumulate excessively in working areas. There were two coal mining deaths in the state last year, Abbott said. Virginia’s second death occurred Monday night at Virginia Pocahontas No. 8 near Deskins in Buchanan County, according to Abbott. Fred Ramsey “Junior” Hess, 54, of Honaker, Va., was killed, Abbott said, after a recirculation pump exploded at the mine’s preparation plant. – Contact B.K. Necessary at [email protected]

 

Firefighter saved from downed power line

By John Young, The Porterville Recorder

TULARE — Quick action by a Tulare firefighter Saturday allowed rescue of a his co-worker, who had been shocked by a 12,000 volt power line. Engineer Mark Fernandes said firefighter Luis Nevarez, 33, of Visalia, was shocked at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the scene of a downed power line in the 2000 block of Alcott Street. Fernandes was acting captain on the incident. A person in the neighborhood had been trimming a tree and a falling tree limb brought the high voltage line down, Fernandes said. He was briefing the duty chief on the incident as Nevarez, a 10-year veteran, was working around the tree, he said. “We turned around and Luis was doing something in the tree,” he said. “Before we knew it, he grabbed the power line,” he said. Nevarez was being shocked, lost consciousness, still holding onto the line, Fernandes said. “He was being electrocuted. He was dying,” Fernandes said. He had to separate the firefighter from the line, and the only thing he had was his clipboard, he said. “I knew I had one shot, so I threw it and knocked the line out of his hand,” he said. He grabbed Nevarez by his turnout coat and dragged him away from the line, he said. Nevarez regained consciousness at the scene, and was taken to Tulare District Hospital, where he was stabilized. He underwent surgery on his arm and hand and is reported in serious but stable condition at University Medical Center in Fresno, Fernandes said.

 

UPDATE, Tampa worker’s death brings contractor $112,000 OHSA fine

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 The Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. – A Tennessee company should pay $112,000 in fines for a worker’s electrocution because it knew or should have known its procedures violated safety rules, federal officials said Tuesday. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration accused Dillard Smith Construction Co. of Chattanooga, Tenn., of exposing linemen to electrical hazards caused by improper grounding procedures. Jeffrey Kulig, 28, of Bowling Green, died in the July 25 accident at Tampa Electric Co. He was using a lift to work on high-voltage transmission lines 200 feet in the air when he touched them, investigators said. Kulig, a trainee, was working with a lineman, changing insulators and copper ground wires atop a transmission tower when Kulig used his hand to remove one end of the grounding jumper cable prior to removing it from the 230,000-volt line, OSHA said. OSHA cited the contractor for committing the violation with intentional disregard or indifference to OSHA requirements. The agency also issued six serious citations for failing to conduct job safety briefings, not properly training workers in the use of electrical equipment, not using proper grounding procedures and equipment and not maintaining required distance between energy lines and aerial baskets. A serious violation means there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew or should have known of the hazards. The company, which employs about 750 workers, has three weeks to contest the citations and proposed penalties before a review commission. The company, reached by telephone Tuesday, had no comment.

 

OSHA Proposes $148,500 in Penalties Against Olshan Foundation Repair Co. in Houston, Texas, for Safety and Health Violations

DALLAS — An Olshan Foundation Repair Co. employee in Houston was electrocuted during a tunnel excavation beneath a residence undergoing a foundation repair. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company with alleged safety and health violations and proposed penalties totaling $148,500. The OSHA Houston south area office conducted the investigation that began July 30, 2001, and cited Olshan with two willful, one serious and one other-than serious violation. Two willful violations were issued for failing to ensure that electrical equipment was free from hazards, such as missing ground prongs, exposed conductors and damaged insulation. The second willful violation was for failing to use proper ground fault circuit breakers or an assured equipment grounding program to automatically trip off any leakage of electrical current. A willful violation is defined as one that is committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations. The serious violation was for failing to train employees in recognizing and avoiding hazardous conditions such as confined space, working in a conductive and damp location with defective electrical equipment. A serious violation is one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard. The other-than-serious violation was failing to document injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 200 log. The law requires employers to log in any occupational illness, injury or fatality. The company did not log in the fatality. An other-than-serious violation is a hazardous condition that would probably not result in serious harm or injury to employees. Employers and employees with questions regarding workplace safety and health standards can call the nearest OSHA office. OSHA’s toll-free hotline may be used to report workplace accidents, fatalities, or situations posing imminent danger to workers. The number is 1-800-321-6742. The employer has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to either comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

 

2 hospitalized after apparent power-line shock near Lauderdale

sun-sentinel.com , Posted January 30 2002, 2:30 PM EST

A worker helping install a 720,000-volt power feeder line along Cypress Creek Road was rushed to a hospital Wednesday afternoon after suffering some sort of electric shock, firefighters said. The Florida Power & Light ground-crew worker, who was not immediately identified, was taken to North Ridge Medical Center shortly after 1 p.m. after collapsing at the work site at Northeast Sixth Avenue and 61st Court near Fort Lauderdale, Todd LeDuc, Broward Fire Rescue spokesman, said. Another FP&L worker, who was in his mid-30’s, also was taken to North Ridge after complaining of numbness and tingling to his body. Both men had been using shovels at the work site, Le Duc said. Condition reports on both men were not immediately available. Le Duc said the incident occurred near a Westin hotel where work on the power feeder was under way. A crane with a 60-foot boom may have hit the power line and caused the jolt that shocked both men, LeDuc said. It appears there was some kind of significant electrical injury to at least one of the men, LeDuc said. It also illustrates the dangers of working near power lines – even if you’re a pro – he said.

 

UPDATE, Woman sues Methodist Healthcare-Dyersburg Hospital for $40 million in brother’s death

01/28/02, BILL HILES

A Memphis woman has filed a $40 million lawsuit against Methodist Healthcare-Dyersburg Hospital and several of its employees in connection with the electrocution death of her brother on Feb. 4, 2001. Sidney Connell, filed the lawsuit as the administratrix for the estate of Michael P. Connell and for the use and benefit of his heir, Chad Connell, 15. Her complaint, filed in Dyer County Circuit Court on Jan. 16 by Memphis attorneys Louis Chiozza and James V. Ball, also names several physicians and groups of physicians. Michael Connell, a licensed mechanical contractor, was electrocuted while performing air conditioning service at the Dyersburg Mall. Sidney Connell filed a separate $10 million federal lawsuit in June. That lawsuit, still pending in federal court, states that “on Jan. 27, 2001 Michael Connell was asked by Azizi International, Inc., a maintenance broker, to make a service call at Dyersburg Mall, specifically for the heating and air units of Hibbett Sporting Goods…” “In the course of providing the service,” the federal lawsuit states, “Michael Connell, while standing in front of the electrical panel to check the electrical disconnect at the main electrical box and look at the breaker, opened the box and wires which were not properly secured fell onto Michael Connell, creating an electrical arc and injuring Michael Connell who received second and third degree electrical burns to his face, arms and hands.” Connell developed septic shock due to the injuries and died of complications from the burns on Feb. 3, 2001, according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges that Dyersburg Mall was guilty of negligence because “(i)t knew or should have known of the dangerous condition of the electrical panel, but did not remedy the dangerous condition”, “did not exercise care in properly maintaining and servicing the electrical equipment”, “failed to insure that the electrical work and construction on the building was within codes”, “failed to warn persons … of the fact that the wires were not secured within the electrical panel and were dangerous”, and “failed to warn other repair and service contractors of the faulty nature of the electrical panel.” The complaint alleges that the acts of negligence by the mall “… were the direct and proximate causes of the death of Michael Connell.” The complaint makes similar allegations of negligence against Hibbett Sporting Goods and Azizi International. The state lawsuit against the hospital alleges that Michael Connell was evaluated by Dr. Elliot Landfield in the emergency room and “…was…treated for his flash burns only and not for the electrocution injury…” It blames Michael Connell’s death on improper care by Landfield and other emergency room personnel because of alleged improper treatment before Connell was transferred to the Firefighters Regional Burn Center at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. “…as a result of defendants’ negligent medical care and/or malpractice (Michael Connell) did not receive proper and immediate medical care, his medical condition was compromised prior to and during his transfer and further compromised at the time of his arrival at the Firefighters Regional Burn Center … which said acts were a direct and proximate cause of his death on Feb. 4, 2001.” The complaint names three Methodist Healthcare-Dyersburg Hospital emergency medical technicians and a nurse at the hospital and John and/or Jane Doe, unnamed defendants employed by the hospital, UT Medical Group Inc. and Phyamerica Physicians Services of the Midwest Inc. The complaint includes excerpts, said to be from an autopsy of Michael Connell’s body, stating that he died of complications from the electrical injuries he received at the mall. The complaint alleges that “the defendants, jointly and/or severally, were guilty of… medical negligence … that … were the direct and proximate cause of the injuries to (Michael Connell) … resulting in his death… .” It claims the hospital failed to provide education and knowledge to its staff in the handling, treatment and transfer of medical emergencies, “failed to appropriately ensure that its employees, personnel and/or staff applied, followed and carried out all applicable policies, procedures and guidelines in full force and effect for the treatment of injuries presented in the instant case…” and failed “…to appropriately ensure that (Michael Connell) received proper, appropriate and non-negligent medical care and/or treatment necessitated and required for emergencies presented in the instant case… .” The complaint further alleges that the hospital failed to ensure the safety of Michael Connell while he was in the care of the hospital and its emergency medical personnel. As to the emergency medical technicians and nurse, identified in the complaint as Shands, R. Gatlin, Buchanan and Connie Ray, R.N., the lawsuit claims they failed “…to secure the necessary information, knowledge and skills in the medical care and/or service required of them to properly assist the physicians in the treatment of (Michael Connell)…” and failed “…to appropriately follow and adhere all policies, protocols, procedures and guidelines applicable to them in full force and effect for the medical treatment of injuries presented in the instant case… .” The emergency medical personnel also were negligent in failing to properly equip the emergency room and in failing to appropriately monitor Michael Connell’s condition, the complaint states. The 17-page complaint reiterates the complaints against each of the defendants and claims recovery from them for “…the wrongful death of Michael Peel Connell on Feb. 4,2001, emotional pain and suffering by Michael Connell … pecuniary value of the life of (Michael Connell), … loss of earning capacity of (Michael Connell) … any and all medical expenses for (Michael Connell), … funeral expenses, … loss of consortium, companionship and society (to Sidney Connell), “… for mental pain and anguish (of Michael Connell’s heirs) and for Sidney Connell’s “… loss of wages and all expenses she has incurred as a result of the death of her brother… .” The complaint claims that the actions of the defendants are “… so willful and wanton as to shock the conscious (sic) of the community at-large and would entitle plaintiffs to punitive damages against all defendants named herein.” The complaint asks for $20 million in actual damages and $20 million in punitive damages and seeks a jury trial.

 

Indiana Man Critically Burned In Power Line Accident

A man trying to install a CB antenna in a tree suffered third-degree burns over half his body when the antenna touched a power line in Brazil, Indiana, authorities said. 21-year-old Gary Long was critically burned when the CB antenna he was working on fell onto a power line, sending electricity through the antenna, shocking Long and burning the tree. Long remained in critical condition yesterday at the Wishard Memorial Hospital burn unit in Indianapolis, where he was airlifted after the accident. When emergency workers arrived at the accident scene, they found the CB antenna draped across the power line, the tree was charred from the fire and Long hanging onto a lower branch. It took 10 to 15 minutes to lower Long from the tree, as Brazil firefighters waited for Cinergy/PSI workers to cut power to the line.

 

Manhole covers fly after S.F. explosion

Published Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2002, in the San Jose Mercury News, BY ROBIN EVANS

CAR LOFTED, NEARBY HOTEL DAMAGED; ONE INJURED

Glass in half a dozen buildings in San Francisco shattered when an underground explosion shot powerful sound waves and three manhole covers into the air Tuesday morning. One of those covers, made of cast iron, was propelled up into a parked passenger car, lifting it temporarily off the street then wedging underneath it like an upturned coin. Another jetted 35 feet in the air and into the Carlton Hotel, damaging its facade and breaking windows in the lobby and on the second floor, officials said. “What was truly amazing was a 300-pound-plus manhole cover made it up 30 to 35 feet on the hotel. It was a significant amount of force,” said Fire Department Capt. Pete Howes. If anyone had been in the way, he said, “it would have been a tragedy.” A third, smaller, concrete manhole on the sidewalk was also blown off its base, and one worker was sent to the hospital with minor injuries. A check of affected buildings determined there were no other injuries or fire hazards from the explosion, Howes said. “People were home but thankfully no one was close to or looking out of the windows,” he said. “The windows were completely blown out.” Traffic was barred from entering the area and PG&E immediately cut off electricity to 3,000 residents nearby as workers looked for the source of the problem, said spokesman Paul Moreno. By late afternoon electricity had been restored to all but a handful of customers. “Our first priority is to restore power, but they may be without power for quite a while because we have to restring the cable in the entire circuit,” he said. The electric cable underground was damaged, but Moreno said it’s still “chicken-and-egg: Did the cable fail because of the explosion or cause the explosion? “We don’t know what caused the ignition source,” Moreno said. But he said that before the explosion, PG&E crews doing routine maintenance just downhill from the explosion, at Larkin and Sutter streets, noticed smoke from an open manhole cover. Underground explosions are common city phenomena and their cause has prompted a number of studies, Moreno said. “A variety of things could happen. This happens all over the world. You can get sewage vapors, natural gas, methane buildup, fuel that gets down into an area,” he said. “It’s going to be tough to pinpoint the exact source.”

 

Two men electrocuted in Zephyr

Family and friends were slated to gather Tuesday evening in Riverside Park to remember two men who were electrocuted Saturday in Zephyr. The Saturday afternoon accident claimed the life of Zephyr resident Dexter Allan Jewell, 36, and his brother-in-law, Dino Lee Ogden, 38, of Brownwood, authorities said. The two men were trimming a tree from a raised utility bucket when a power line touched one of them from behind and almost instantly electrocuted both men. According to sheriff’s department reports, the accident was witnessed by others who were able to call emergency personnel, including the Zephyr Volunteer Fire Department and Brown County Sheriff’s deputies. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

 

UPDATE, Portsmouth company fined in electrocution of worker

January 23, 2002

Watch 13News’ story on the death of Rickie Boyd and his familiy’s support for the company he worked for. A Portsmouth moving company has been hit with a nearly $26,000 fine after one of its workers was electrocuted. Rickie Boyd fell from a moving house. He and two other men from Lang Construction, had to negotiate the home through power lines. In the process, Boyd was electrocuted. The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry fined Lang Construction, saying the company failed to tell the power company about its plans to move the house — among other things. Lang Construction is appealing the fine. Several members of the Boyd family work for Lang Construction and think the state’s action is unfair.

 

Dump truck snags power lines, snaps utility pole

By Susan Kirkland, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer01/18/02 About 200 people were without power more than five hours Friday after a dump truck snagged several electrical power lines on U.S. 411, causing the pole holding them to snap. Around 11:45 a.m. Friday, a Wellington Industries dump truck, driven by David Wigger of Cassville, was dumping gravel in the median on U.S. 411, near its intersection with the East Rome Bypass, when it snapped the pole. A section of U.S. 411 was closed until 6:15 p.m. while crews replaced the 65-foot pole and moved lines to a new pole. According to Lt. Terry Autry of the Rome Police Department and Jimmy Darby, supervisor with Georgia Power: The truck had raised its bed to dump gravel in the median, where the Georgia Department of Transportation was working, and caught the lines. As the driver drove down the turn lane, gradually dumping the gravel, the vehicle pulled the lines, causing the pole to break. He’s lucky he wasn’t electrocuted, said Autry of the Rome Police Department. At one point, Autry said, five patrolmen were in the area helping direct traffic. A little more than a quarter of a mile of U.S. 411 between its intersection with the bypass and Callier Springs Road was closed. He said no charges have been filed but the incident was still being investigated. Georgia Power had several trucks at the scene with crews working, and electricity was restored by around 5:15 p.m. Luke Lumpkin, supervisor with BellSouth, said service to its customers should not have been affected, but fiberoptic cables were moved to the new pole. We’ve lost a lot of business, said Debra Hanson, manager of the Favorite Market at the intersection of U.S. 411 and the bypass. They’ve routed people around us. Hanson said most of the loss would result from not being able to sell gas. White plastic bags covered the nozzles of the pumps. Regular purchases were added on a calculator instead of the cash register, she said. Sometimes things like this happen – we don’t like for them to, but they do, said Roger Fletcher, DOT project manager. The project calls for widening and extending the turn lane on U.S. 411 at the intersection.

 

KCPL Worker Hurt By Power Line

A man was badly burned after coming in contact with a high-power line Wednesday night, KMBC 9 News reported. The victim, a worker with Kansas City Power and Light, came into contact with the line while working on an aerial platform, or a cherry picker, near 87th Street and State Line Road. The man was taken to a local hospital. Witnesses said he was conscious when he left the scene, but his condition was not known.

 

Explosion, fire knock out power at Odessa hospital

Wednesday, January 16, 2002, The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal , Associated Press

ODESSA, Texas (AP) – An electrical explosion temporarily knocked out the power at a Permian Basin hospital on Tuesday. The explosion rattled Medical Center Hospital, halting five to eight surgeries being performed at the time, said hospital administrator David Meisell. Emergency generators came on within minutes, and the surgeries were completed, he said. No injuries were reported. Ambulances and emergencies were diverted to other hospitals through Tuesday night. Meisell called the explosion an electrical discharge and said it caught some insulation on fire. The smoke blackened the power plant vents, Meisell said in Wednesday’s editions of the Odessa American. Power was restored at the hospital by Tuesday night, hospital spokeswoman Renee Earls said.

 

Santa Fe Building damaged by fire

Web posted Monday, January 14, 2002, 10:35 a.m. CT

Potter County’s Santa Fe building remained closed until further notice today following an electrical explosion at 1:38 a.m., which filled the building with smoke. An electric-panel explosion caused a fire in the first subbasement, Capt. Bob Johnson of the Amarillo Fire Department said in a news release. “This was essentially a large electrical short,” Johnson said. “The fire was confined to the electrical panel but smoke spread throughout the entire building.” No one was injured. Firefighters brought the fire under control in about 45 minutes. Today, notices posted on the locked Santa Fe doors read: “Santa Fe building CLOSED until further notice. In case of emergency contact the county judge office 379-2250.” Potter County Judge Arthur Ware said the building is operating with emergency generators, which must be refueled every 15 hours. Ware commended the Amarillo Fire Department for their work in going through the building. He said he was notified of the fire at about 2 a.m. Damage estimates to the building are not yet available, but Ware said the explosion spread copper and zinc dust throughout the basement. Ware briefed Potter County commissioners on the fire situation at their regular meeting today. Until officials determine the extent of the damage, Ware asked that all equipment purchases be delayed.

“The worst-case scenario is $100,000 but insurance should pick up after that,” he said. Read more details in the Amarillo Globe-News or at amarillonet.com

 

UPDATE, Repairs to electrical vault downtown may take week ; Fire on Friday forced tower to evacuate

By Margo Rutledge Kissell, Dayton Daily News

DAYTON | Dayton Power and Light Co. workers have not determined the cause of Friday’s fire under Second Street that disrupted power to the Kettering Tower and two other buildings and prompted the tower’s evacuation. Fire in an electrical vault caused underground explosions about 4:30 p.m. that sent two manhole covers into the air and shot flames about 15 feet high through the openings. The fire knocked out power to the 30-story tower at Second and Main, the Relizon Building and the Arcade. Power was restored by 4 a.m. Saturday after workers isolated a bad cable, said Kevin Crawford, director of DP&L service operations. Crews likely will spend all week repairing damage from the fire. Some lanes along Second Street might be blocked to allow them to work, and a few street lights in the area could remain out until the end of the week, Crawford said. DP&L has not calculated the amount of damage, but Crawford said, It’s not extensive at all. There was no permanent damage to the electrical vault, he added. On Monday, everything was back to normal at the tower, said Susan Considine, general manager of the Kettering Tower, where about 700 employees work at 60 businesses, including Robbins & Myers, Olivia’s restaurant and Vectren. We didn’t suffer any damage to the building, no damage to any of the equipment, she said. Everyone was safely evacuated (Friday), which is the most important thing. Dayton Fire Department spokeswoman Victoria Carr said fire investigators are not assisting DP&L in determining the cause of the fire because foul play is not suspected. When it’s determined at the scene to be accidental, they don’t call for investigators, she said.

 

Power line kills worker, hurts another

01/15/02, By BILL BRAY, The Express-Times

HIGH BRIDGE – A siding installer was electrocuted and another seriously injured Monday morning when the scaffold they were assembling touched a 7,200-volt power line. The two workers were erecting a set of pump jacks at 9:57 a.m. on the side of a two-story home at Union Avenue and Hart Street when one of the metal posts touched the power lines. Walter Cabrerra of Irvington, N.J., suffered electrical burns and internal injuries. He was taken to Hunterdon Medical Center then flown to the burn center at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, N.J., where he was listed in critical condition late Monday. Police were withholding the name of the dead man late Monday pending notification of his family. Nicholas Susalis, chief detective for the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, said the death is being ruled accidental. He added that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and GPU Energy also are conducting investigations. Susalis said the man died at the scene but was taken to Hunterdon Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Both worked for Luis A. Chavez Construction of Bellville, N.J. Calls to Chavez’s home were not returned. At the home where the men had been working, a set of pump jacks remained in place. The jacks use two aluminum poles, each around 40 feet long, two jacks and an aluminum ladder. The poles are threaded through the jacks, stand up on end and anchor to the top to the building. The ladder then spans the space between the poles and fastens to the jacks. The system allows workers to stand on the platform created by the ladder and use the jacks to adjust the platform’s height. Susalis said both men were on the ground and touching the system when the wire was struck. New off-white siding covered half of the Victorian home. The contractor’s equipment was piled in the yard and some blue insulation board was all that indicated work had begun on the side where the electrocution occurred. A man who identified himself as the owner’s son said his mother did not want to comment. He said he was there to see what happened. Mike Yarnell, assistant area director for OSHA’s Avenel office, said its investigation is ongoing and had few details. He said if the contractor violated federal safety guidelines he could face a $5,000 fine. “If there was a criminal act we would contact the Justice Department,” Yarnell said. He did not know if any regulations were broken but said there are rules governing the use of scaffolds around power lines. Yarnell said electrocution from accidental contact is common in New Jersey but not this way. More often, workers using back hoes or cranes run into lines. On average, one to two workers per year die this way in New Jersey, Yarnell said. Ron Morano, spokesman for GPU, said he had few details on the incident. He said power lines in the area are about 30 feet in the air. There is a telephone pole on the corner with power lines running along both the side and front of the home.

 

Power restored in downtown Dayton

Dayton Daily News

DAYTON | Power was restored early Saturday to three downtown buildings whose electricity was disrupted by underground explosions Friday afternoon, a spokesman for Dayton Power & Light said Saturday. A fire in an electrical vault under Second Street caused the explosions that sent two manhole covers flying and shot flames about 15 feet high through the openings. The fire knocked out power to the Kettering Tower, the Relizon Building and the Arcade. Kevin Crawford, director of DP&L service operations, said power was restored by about 4 a.m. Saturday. Crawford said repair crews “did a fantastic job” repairing damage. Crawford and Dayton Fire Department officials said Saturday that investigations were continuing.

 

PECO repairman burned

Thursday, January 10, 2002

A PECO Energy Co. repairman was burned yesterday as he checked a malfunctioning electric meter outside a commercial building on Biles Island in Falls. A PECO Energy Co. repairman was burned yesterday as he checked a malfunctioning electric meter outside a commercial building on Biles Island in Falls. Steve Schrader, 36, was burned when a “flash fire” erupted about 8 a.m. after he removed the meter’s glass cover, PECO spokesman Michael Wood said. The fire caused second-degree burns on Schrader’s cheeks and left ear. A piece of flying metal left a third-degree burn on his face, Wood said. Physicians at Capital Health Systems’ Fuld Campus in Trenton told PECO that Schrader wouldn’t need plastic surgery. He was expected to stay the night at the hospital and be released today, Wood said. Schrader, a PECO energy technician since 1995, was wearing safety goggles, a hard hat and fire-resistant clothing – the standard gear for field workers, Wood said. He added that the gear most likely prevented Schrader from being more severely burned. Schrader was following up on a complaint of a damaged meter at the Penn Warner Group, a building on Biles Island, Wood said. The Penn Warner Group is a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc., which owns the island, WMI spokeswoman Judy Archibald said. The problem was caused by a circuit board owned by Penn Warner Group. As a precaution, PECO shut power to the building, Wood said. Most of Biles Island’s 467 acres are mined by the Penn Warner Group for the stone and gravel used to bury trash at WMI’s landfills in Falls and Tullytown. About 41 acres of the island’s northern tip have been designated a wildlife preserve, Archibald said.

 

Worker Severely Burned By High-Voltage Line

A worker for a JEA subcontractor has been critically injured by contact with a high-power line on Airport Road. JEA spokesman Bruce Dugan told Channel 4 he came in contact with a 69,000-volt line. The victim was rushed to Shands via ambulance with life-threatening, third-degree burns. Channel 4 will have a live report tonight on Eyewitness News.

 

Electric Motor Explosion

by Melanie Kliebert, KRIS-TV

An electric motor explodes injuring the two mechanics working on it. It happened at electric motor rewind, incorporated just before 9:00 this morning. According to the fire department, fumes inside the motor ignited setting off a small explosion. The blast knocked out the ends of the motor, striking one man in the chest, the other in the hand. KRIS6 news is told the injuries were not life threatening, but both men were taken to Christus Spohn Memorial hospital for treatment.

 

Electrocution kills worker in apartment

Published Tue, Jan 8, 2002, By CHRIS BENDER, Gazette staff writer

The maintenance director at the Lady’s Pointe II Apartments was electrocuted Monday afternoon while he was working on a water heater, according to Lt. Rick Krob of the Burton Fire District. Robert L. VonFossen, 61, of Beaufort, died of electrocution and was pronounced dead at Beaufort Memorial Hospital at 4:26 p.m., said Beaufort County Coroner Curt Copeland. Krob said emergency units were dispatched at 3:30 p.m. and arrived within a few minutes. He said firefighters did CPR on the scene, but could not resuscitate VonFossen. VonFossen was taken to BMH by Beaufort County EMS. VonFossen was working in Ken Jackson’s apartment, who was there at the time. Jackson said VonFossen had come over a little after 3 p.m. “He was working on the hot water heater,” Jackson said. “I didn’t hear anything when it happened.” Jackson said he didn’t see it happen. He said he’d offered VonFossen a cup of coffee because it was getting cold in the apartment. “When he didn’t respond, I knew something was wrong,” Jackson said. “I pulled him away from the unit and called EMS.” Troy Glover, Jackson’s neighbor, said he came home from work Monday evening to find VonFossen’s white Chevrolet Blazer parked in his parking spot. “I didn’t think much of it at the time,” Glover said. “My neighbor came over and told me what happened later.” Glover said he didn’t know VonFossen that well, but had seen him around the apartment complex working on various projects. “He was a diligent worker,” Glover said. “He always went above and beyond what was required of the job.” Stephen G. Jones and Edna L. Jones, who live in Lady’s Pointe Apartments, said VonFossen was a kind and friendly man, even though they knew him only as “Bob.” Stephen was at home Monday afternoon when a fire truck arrived at the main office near his apartment. “I didn’t think much about it at the time,” he said. In fact, he said he never would have guessed it had anything to do with VonFossen. Stephen said VonFossen had been by his apartment Monday morning to fix a light in the kitchen. Though the couple only called VonFossen on occasion for repairs, Edna said he was at the complex working every day. “Mostly we talked to him every day,” she said. “He’d pick up trash around the complex.” The couple said VonFossen worked hard to keep the complex neat and clean. Stephen said he had been on the job only a few months, but really seemed to enjoy the work. “He was just a good person,” Stephen said. “If you wanted a person who was a good friend, he was that person.”

 

Investigation into motorway electrocution
Investigation continues into the death of Greg Cousins, 20, who died before Christmas on an M1 slip road near Dunmurry, Belfast, after a crane contacted overhead power cables. Mr Cousins was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

 

Two Men Burned In Explosion At Indy Business

Paramedics rushed two men to the hospital Thursday after an explosion at an east side business. The blast at Trilithic Inc., 9710 Park Davis Drive, occurred about 9:30 a.m. as workers from a subcontractor worked on the electrical system. “It was a pretty massive explosion,” employee Mike Wilson said. Jim Allen, 44, was taken to Wishard Hospital with first- and second-degree burns to his hand and forehead. Jerome McKinney, 29, received first-degree burns on his neck. Both are in stable condition and likely will be released Thursday, authorities said. No other Trilithic employees were hurt. Damage was estimated at $150,000, according to officials. Trilithic makes electronic parts for the cable television and wireless telephone industries.

 

Trash truck mishap causes power outage

Published Sunday, December 23, 2001

A city garbage truck raked utility lines with an upraised lifting apparatus as it left a west Columbia grocery store yesterday morning, resulting in a loss of electric power and phone and cable television service for a portion of town. The power outage began about 8:45 a.m. in the neighborhood of Gerbes Supermarket, 1729 W. Broadway, and lasted about an hour and 15 minutes. A manager at the store said the business operated without hindrance after switching to an auxiliary power supply. Columbia police Sgt. Ken Smith said in a prepared statement that the garbage truck left the supermarket lot with its lifting apparatus in an extended position, damaging several overhead lines. The driver realized what had happened and halted the truck at the corner of Ash and Pershing streets. Police said several residences and businesses in the area reported power, telephone and cable television outages.

 

Construction worker electrocuted

By AUTUMN C. GIUSTI, Staff Writer

DELAND — A 28-year-old construction worker died Tuesday morning when he was electrocuted while helping pour concrete, police said. The accident happened at the construction site of the DeLand Dermatology Center at West Plymouth and North Orange avenues at about 11:43 a.m. The worker, William Bryan Miller of Leesburg, was holding a concrete chute at the end of a crane, directing the flow of concrete, when a boom on the crane came in contact with high-voltage power lines overhead, said police spokeswoman Barbara West. The electrical current traveled down the crane boom, through Miller’s hands and down to his feet. The shock stopped his heartbeat and his breathing immediately, said EVAC ambulance spokesman Mark O’Keefe. Paramedics attempted unsuccessfully to restart his heart on the way to Florida Hospital-DeLand. He was pronounced dead at 1:08 p.m. Miller had been working on the project with a Eustis-based subcontractor. Co-workers said he left behind a wife and several brothers and sisters. Police and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the electrocution, but West said it appeared accidental. Co-workers at the site Tuesday evening were not sure who was operating the crane. The construction site was shut down for the remainder of the day.

 

UPDATE, Explosion at Sears blamed on error

December 17, 2001

MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio — Human error is to blame for an explosion that temporarily shut down a Sears store October 29. Investigators in Middleburg Heights say two technicians working on an electrical panel accidentally set of the explosion. The panel was carrying approximately 5,000 volts of electricity. Both men were injured in the incident and face a lengthy recovery.

 

Teenage electrocuted near Belfast

online.ie 16 Dec 2001

A man has been killed in an accident near Belfast last night. The victim, in his late teens, was electrocuted after a crane struck an overhead cable. Ambulances were sent to the scene on the M1 motorway at Dunmurry but failed to revive the man and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

Explosion in Hollywood cuts power to 4,000 customers

ASSOCIATED PRESS, December 14, 2001

LOS ANGELES – An underground electrical vault exploded in a Hollywood neighborhood Friday, sending a fireball 75 feet in the air and knocking out power to more than 4,000 customers. The first explosion occurred shortly before 8 a.m. and a fire was quickly extinguished. A second explosion occurred two hours later. Officials with the city’s Department of Water and Power said electricity was not expected to be restored until midnight at the earliest. The cause of the explosion appeared to be equipment failure, possibly a transformer or a cable in the vault, said DWP spokeswoman Darlene Battle. The Red Cross opened a shelter at Hollywood High School.

 

Roofer killed as boom hits power line

By SUSAN THURSTON, St. Petersburg Times, published December 11, 2001

The accident sends a blue arc of energy to the ground. A 45-year-old man is killed and another worker is in critical condition at Tampa General Hospital. One man was killed and another critically injured Monday when a boom struck power lines on E 148th Avenue in Lutz. Trees and power lines left little room to maneuver the boom, officials at the scene said. LUTZ — Roofer Jeff Poole had a lot to celebrate on Monday. He went to his first Buccaneers game on Sunday and was eager to tell his co-workers all about it. It was his last game. Poole was electrocuted Monday morning while working at a house in the Ranch Lake area of Lutz off Bearss and Livingston avenues. Sheriff’s officials said Poole and an employee of ABC Supply Co. were jolted when a 30-foot boom attached to a flatbed truck hit overhead power lines. Employees of ABC Supply had delivered materials to the house at 2905 148th Ave. E and were raising the conveyor boom toward the roof when the operator accidentally swung the device into the power line, said sheriff’s Lt. Rod Reder. Poole and Roosevelt Glover were standing next to the truck at the time of impact. The strike sent a blue arc of energy to the ground, blowing out the back tires of the truck and shocking both men. Poole, 45, was taken by ambulance to University Community Hospital, where he died. He worked for Tosca Roofing west of Plant City. Glover, 28, was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital. He remained in critical condition Monday night. His address was unknown and officials at the company’s headquarters in Beloit, Wis., would not release information about his employment. The operator of the boom was not hurt. Authorities did not identify him. The incident was under investigation, but it appeared to be an accident, Reder said. The boom hit a Tampa Electric Co. distribution line that carries electricity to several homes in the neighborhood. The line has 7,620 volts, compared with 120 in the average house. Power was disrupted to about a half-dozen homes in the area for a few hours, TECO spokesman Ross Bannister said. Given the severity of the incident, Bannister said, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate. He said TECO offers safety programs for contractors who work near power lines but didn’t know whether the companies had taken them. Officials at the scene said the small, wooded lot made it difficult to maneuver the boom, which hauls shingles onto the roof. The operator did not have much room to navigate around the trees and wires on the power poles. Poole worked as a foreman for Tosca Roofing for eight years and lived on Sammons Road in Plant City. His boss, Rick Tosca, said Poole had dropped off a trailer at the Lutz home and was planning to leave about 9 a.m., just before the accident. “We’re grieving,” Tosca said. “He was the best employee. He never missed a day of work.” Tosca said Poole loved the Bucs and talked about going to the game all last week. A relative bought him the ticket as an early Christmas gift and it was his first time watching the Bucs from the stands. “He was so excited,” Tosca said. “He wanted to tell everyone about it.” Poole’s longtime companion, Nancy, said Monday he was an avid sports fan and fisherman. She described him as a devoted employee and family man. He had a 14-year-old son, Geoffrey, and was helping to raise her four grandchildren, ages 8, 7, 5 and 3. He had never had a job-related accident. “He loved his work,” she said.

 

Sign worker electrocuted

WELLINGTON – An Amarillo man died Thursday night when he was electrocuted while working on a sign. Thomas Franklin Bittle, 40, an employee of Hoarel Sign Co. in Amarillo, was working on the Dairy Queen sign in Wellington out of a bucket on a hydraulic lift when he apparently was electrocuted at about 7 p.m., according to Collingsworth County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Steve Hartman.

The deputy said Bittle was taken by ambulance to Collingsworth General Hospital, where he died.

UPDATE, Feds fine Mead, Cianbro in fatal accident at paper mill

By Eileen M. Adams, Staff Writer

The local paper mill and one of its subcontractors have been cited by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration on several safety violations connected with the death of a Canton man in September. OSHA ended its 10-week investigation last week into the death of James Pelletier, 38, who was electrocuted during an accident at Mead Paper Division, said Bill Freeman, OSHA area director. Pelletier, a pipefitter for Cianbro Corp. of Pittsfield, was electrocuted on Sept. 23 while he was repairing a fitting on a cooling system for electrical panels. Alan Burton, a spokesman for Cianbro, said Pelletier was repairing the cooling system when he dropped a crescent wrench. When he tried to retrieve it, he apparently walked into an energized 110-volt circuit. Mead was fined a total of $9,500 and directed by OSHA to assure that live exposed parts an employee might come in contact with be de-energized before an employee works near them. The citation also states that the mill had not developed, documented or utilized procedures for the control of potentially hazardous energy when employees were engaged in maintenance of the two cooling pumps. A statement from Mead spokeswoman Susan Parella said the fine will be paid by the end of the week. The company has no current plans to appeal the citations. The issues in both citations have also been addressed, according to Parella. Cianbro was cited for similar safety violations and directed to pay a fine of $7,000 and bring the violations into compliance. Specifically, the citations say that Pelletier was allowed to work inside the cooling pump room in which 120 volts were exposed. Further, Cianbro did not determine whether any part of the volt power circuit or volt control circuit were live before allowing Pelletier to begin work. Burton said the company doesn’t expect to contest the fine. In addition, he said his company will hold an informal conference with OSHA representatives later in the month to discuss the incident and to let OSHA know that Cianbro is serious about safety. He said the company has taken additional steps to insure that such an accident doesn’t happen again. We’ve reviewed our policies and procedures regarding energy sources and have revised as needed, including taking disciplinary action if procedures are violated, he said. Our intention is to follow OSHA. The fatal accident occurred during the mill’s annual shutdown for paper machine maintenance. On July 21, 1998, Richard Whittemore, 27, of Mexico, an employee of subcontractor Bancroft Contracting Corp. of Paris, was electrocuted while using an electric arc welder in hot and damp conditions at the paper mill.

 

UPDATE, ELECTROCUTION DEATH LEADS TO $62,600 IN FINES AGAINST CONTRACTOR

BOSTON — The electrocution death of a worker who came in contact with energized power lines at a Blackstone, Mass., sewer installation project has resulted in $62,600 in proposed fines against his employer. The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited ODF Contractors, of Dorchester, Mass., for alleged willful and serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act following the July 5 accident. The worker was standing in the elevated bucket of an excavator attempting to tie together overhead wiring when the arm of the excavator contacted an energized power line, killing him instantly. “The inspection found that the excavator was operating within 10 feet of energized lines, a clear violation of OSHA standards with which this employer was certainly familiar,” said Ronald E. Morin, OSHA area director for Central Massachusetts. “As a result, we have issued a willful citation for failing to maintain a safe distance from the lines and proposed a fine of $56,000 for that hazard.” A willful violation is defined by OSHA as one committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations. Three serious citations, totaling $6,600 in fines, were also issued. Two are for allegedly exposing employees to serious shock hazards by allowing the worker to use the excavator bucket without first deenergizing the power lines and for lack of ground fault protection for employees using a submersible pump to remove water from a trench. The third citation is for placing the excavator at the edge of an excavation, into which it could fall in the event of a collapse of the trench’s walls. OSHA issues a serious citation when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from the cited condition, and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard. ODF Contractors has 15 working days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to either elect to comply with them, to request and participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Springfield, Mass., area office. Citations and Proposed Penalties to ODF Contractors

One alleged willful violation, with a proposed fine of $56,000, for:

– employees exposed to electrocution hazards due to an excavator being operated within ten feet of energized power lines.

Three alleged serious violations, with $6,600 in fines proposed, for:

failure to supply employment or a place of employment free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm in that employees were exposed to serious shock hazard from standing in the bucket of an excavator that was in contact with energized power lines;

– no grounding protection or GFI protection for employees using a submersible pump to remove water from a trench;

– an excavator was located at the edge of an excavation where there was a risk of its falling into the excavation in the event of a wall collapse. Total proposed penalties: $62,600

 

Deckhand killed playing PlayStation

By James Watson, Posted: 03/12/2001 at 11:15 GMT

An Australian deckhand was electrocuted while thumbing the controller of a Sony PlayStation when a wave smashed into the boat’s wheelhouse. The 19-year old man, Richard Wells, was sitting at a metal table playing with the console when a huge wave broke through the cabin window. The trawler was lying off the southern Queensland coast last week when the incident occurred. Three other crewmembers suffered shocks and burns while trying to rescue Wells from the cabin.

 

UPDATE, SMUD fatality bears witness to perils faced by utility linemen

By Carrie Peyton — Bee Staff Writer, Published 5:30 a.m. PST Thursday, Nov. 29, 2001

The people who work atop utility poles know that death can come in a single slip of hand or foot. Tuesday night, that one false step killed James Lewis, a wiry young former Marine whose first child is due in just a few weeks, his father said Wednesday. “We’re not blaming. We accept what happened,” Robert Lewis said in a steady, gentle voice. But “we’re standing here as the mom and dad thinking why don’t they have some kind of safety line on him?” James Lewis, whose parents called him Jimmy, was the smallest, fastest player on his high school football team, a “jungle gym” to his niece and nephew, and a Sacramento Municipal Utility District apprentice lineman who never turned down overtime. The utility released only the barest details Wednesday of his death, the third for the utility’s crews since 1993. Lewis, 28, of West Sacramento was working in a group of five near Wilton, rewiring poles to replace those blown down in the wind, when he fell from a 45-foot pole, said John DiStasio, assistant general manager for customer services. Robert Lewis said SMUD officials told him his son was doing a “crossover.” The delicate maneuver requires a worker to unclip his safety belt from a pole, crawl over the crossarm near the pole’s tip, and then dig the spikes on his feet back into the pole on the other side before coming down. One of the spikes missed, and Lewis tumbled sideways, landing headfirst on the pavement below, his father said. “I don’t know how much was due to tiredness. Certainly it was cold. You don’t function right if you’re out there too long in the cold,” the father said. James Lewis could well have been doing everything exactly right, said a former lineman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. who is familiar with accident investigations. It is standard practice to unhook the safety belt on some crossarms, said the ex-lineman, who asked not to be named because he didn’t know the accident’s details firsthand. “As an apprentice lineman … you tend to live by all the climbing and all the electrical rules. You just do. That’s how you survive,” he said. Extra harnesses or safety rigging generally aren’t used because they can cause as many injuries as they can prevent, he said. Every year, one or two linemen in Northern California are killed on the job, said Eric Wolfe, communications director for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, which represents linemen from Bakersfield to the Oregon border. “Despite our best efforts, despite intensive focus on safety by both the employer and the union … this is inherently extremely dangerous work,” he said. That danger would be on the mind of every line worker as they braced for the storm that was blowing in Wednesday, even as word of the death was spreading among utility crews throughout the region, said Sonny McCraw, a Roseville Electric superintendent. “We’ll all be more cautious, more supportive of each other,” he said. SMUD’s last fatality was in a bucket-truck accident in 1996, said utility spokeswoman Dace Udris. In 1993, an apprentice tree trimmer was electrocuted in an accident that triggered three worker-safety citations from Cal-OSHA, but the citations later were withdrawn, said agency spokeswoman Susan Gard. The state safety agency has probed about two dozen workplace injuries at SMUD since 1990 and issued 13 citations, at least three of which were later dismissed, she said. The agency has begun investigating Lewis’ death, and will be interviewing colleagues and reviewing his equipment, its maintenance and his training. Lewis joined SMUD about a year and a half ago and was authorized to work with non-electrified equipment, but not with energized lines, DiStasio said. The job was the fulfillment of a dream to serve others, and gave him and his wife, Mari, the security to plan for their first child, said his mother, Georgeanne Lewis. “It made him feel like he was just really doing something for the community,” she said. “That’s the way he was.” She said her son had always been the helper — the pet lover, the boy everyone brought their sick birds to, the teenager who skated to work with a cockatoo perched on his shoulder. He married his sweetheart from Encina High School seven years ago, and spent four years in the Marines, where utility training made him set aside thoughts of becoming a police officer or firefighter. “It was hand-in-hand with the kind of person he was,” said his father. “He just had a big heart.” As an apprentice, his father recalled, Lewis stepped up for every overtime shift offered, in a line of work that often can call for 16-hour shifts. His parents thought he had worked several shifts since Thanksgiving, but SMUD officials said they had no information about his recent schedule except that he had been off Monday and started work at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. He died about 8 p.m., more than 13 hours later. The thought of such long hours haunted Wilton residents who had been without power from Saturday until 10 a.m. Wednesday following a wet and windy storm. “Not all heroes wear the uniform of a policeman or a firefighter,” said David Hillsman, who had been getting ready to take soup and hot cocoa to the crews when Lewis fell. Hillsman said he didn’t sleep the rest of the night. “Would you rather have your microwave working six hours earlier or send a tired crew home safe to their families?” he said. Lewis also served in the California National Guard, helping operate heavy equipment on his once-a-month stints at a Redding training ground. “We’re … the ones who make the bridges and the roads and the airfields,” said his friend, Staff Sgt. Perry Foster. He remembered Lewis as a steady co-worker, a quietly humorous man who was studying martial arts to learn more about himself, and an eager father-to-be who knew that his wife was expecting a son. “He was just elated,” said Robert Lewis. “We were imagining,” he said, pausing and then beginning again. “Can you imagine what kind of dad he’s going to be? “Now we’ll never know that.”

 

4,500 homes lose power after TVA wire snaps, falls

COLUMBIA – A Tennessee Valley Authority high-voltage wire snapped and fell across busy Lion Parkway as area schools let out yesterday afternoon, causing a serious traffic tie-up and knocking out power to 4,500 homes. ”A conductor failed and burned the 161,000-volt line, which then dropped to the ground,” TVA spokeswoman B.J. Gatten said. When the line fell at 2:55 p.m., it knocked out power to the south Columbia substation, according to Jim Clark, general manager of Columbia Power and Water System. ”About 4,500 customers, along with pretty much most of the business district along James Campbell Boulevard, were without power for about 45 minutes,” Clark said. ”Maury Regional Hospital has protective switching to another substation and that worked. But here at Columbia Power, we were about to have our board meeting when our lights went out.” No one was injured when the line fell, according to Fire Department officials. – Sue McClure

 

SMUD Worker Killed In Fall From Power Pole

A Sacramento Municipal Utility District employee was killed Tuesday night when he fell from a power pole in Wilton. The worker was one of several in the area trying to restore power to the few hundred remaining SMUD customers in Sacramento County still without power. SMUD officials, who did not identify the worker, said he died at about 9 p.m. The man was working on a pole on Hobday Road in Wilton, a rural town in the southeast area of the county, SMUD officials said. The cause of the fall was not immediately known. SMUD officials said about 260 customers were still without power, but that crews were ordered to stop working following the accident until Wednesday morning. SMUD crews have been working around the clock since Saturday’s storm knocked out power to 51,000 customers.

 

Officials investigate petroleum plant fire

Published November 27, 2001

FOREST VIEW — Firefighters from at least 10 local departments were needed early Monday morning to extinguish an extra-alarm fire at a southwest suburban petroleum plant. No one was hurt, and only minor damage was sustained in the fire, which was discovered by a plant worker just after 12:30 a.m. at the Apex Oil Co., 4801 S. Harlem Ave., in Forest View near the Stevenson Expressway. Glenn David, director of public safety for the village, said the fire started in a 12-inch pipe used to transfer asphalt and other materials to barges on the adjacent Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Forest View officials were still investigating the cause Monday but said a frayed electrical line may have been at fault. Fortunately, David said, no asphalt was flowing through the pipeline when the flames ignited, and the fire was controlled within minutes and completely put out by about 2:30 a.m. Firefighters originally feared that the flames might spread to nearby oil storage tanks, just a few hundred feet away.

 

BPC man electrocuted

19 November, 2001

A 26-year-old Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) employee was confirmed dead on arrival at Princess Marina Hospital after being electrocuted last week. Urban Police station commander Andrew Melore told BOPA that the incident happened while the victim and his colleagues were trying to replace a fuse in a transformer at Extension 14 in Gaborone. Police investigations are continuing In another incident, Melore said Extension 2 Clinic nurses reported that a 45-year-old woman of Ramotswa was confirmed dead on arrival at the clinic. They said the woman had earlier complained of a headache and stomach pains, and went to Extension 14 branch of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) for assistance. She was later taken to the clinic where she was confirmed dead. Station Commander Melore has appealed to the public to assist police located 15-year-old Daphne Komang of Tutume. Komang worked as a maid at New Canada in Gaborone. Meanwhile, Urban police are holding a 26-year-old man of Ntlhantlhe who escaped from Molepolole Prison. The escapee was caught last week at Bontleng after he broke into a house and stealing. At the time of his arrest, he had four cellular phone prepaid cards worth P100 each.

 

Accident disrupts utilities service to 2,000

By B. Ray Owen ~ Southeast Missourian

Once the crane started freewheeling, Larry Boxdorfer knew it was going over. Boxdorfer was backing the crane with a 100-foot boom when it started pitching backward. “It got overbalanced on the incline,” said Boxdorfer. “I knew then it was going to flip. I’m just thankful that no traffic was passing at the time and it didn’t hit anybody.” The boom fell across Chestnut Street — a block-long section of Highway 177 — striking a utility pole and downing electrical, telephone and cable television wires. More than 2,000 electric customers were without power for a short while, said AmerenUE spokesman Doug Groesbeck. The crane boom hit a transmission line and we had to wire around it,” said Groesbeck. “Only a few customers were without power for more than half an hour, and they were restored within a couple of hours.” Boxdorfer escaped injury. He had to wait inside the crane until power to the area was turned off before the crane could be stabilized. He waited for more than hour. Once the crane was stabilized, Cape Girardeau firefighter Mike Allen hoisted a ladder and helped open the door to the crane. Boxdorfer left the crane under his own power. Boxdorfer is a crane operator for Robinson Construction Co. of Perryville, Mo., which is working on a sewer project for the city of Cape Girardeau. The project calls for four new lift stations and a force main along the Mississippi River. Lift stations pump sewer water uphill so it can flow into the main sewer system. The new stations will replace existing ones that needed rehabilitating after the floods of 1993 and 1995. Force mains are pipes connected to the lift stations that carry the water pumped from the lift stations to a point where it can flow into the sewer system. “We should have a new crane in Tuesday or Wednesday,” said Mike Schremp, superintendent on the job at Olive and Chestnut. “We won’t know the condition of the crane involved in the accident for a while.” “That crane probably won’t be put back into use,” said Chris Cissell, overall project manager for Robinson. Work on the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, said Cissell. The crane was uprighted about 11:35 a.m., said Steve Niswonger of the Cape Gir-ardeau Fire Department. The fire and police departments were on the scene for more than three hours until the crane was uprighted. AmerenUE workers had to replace three utility poles.

 

Officer saved worker’s life

Risked own life to pull man from 440-volt power line

Katherine Tam, Appeal-Democrat

A Yuba City police officer was awarded the department’s highest honor Tuesday night for saving a man from being electrocuted last month. Officer James Marler, who has been with the department for about a year, received the Medal of Valor before his colleagues, family members and the City Council. He is the second person in the department to ever receive the medal, which was last awarded about 40 years ago. “I’m overwhelmed quite honestly,” Marler said. “Our city is filled with exceptional people that do extraordinary things on a daily basis. I thank you and accept this on all their behalf and share this with them.” On Oct. 31, an electrician wiring the new Home Depot store for its Nov. 8 opening came in contact with a 440-volt live current line while on an extended scissor-lift scaffold. Marler was off duty at the time, but was working part time at the store in a nearby aisle when he heard a commotion. “I went to investigate and saw the gentleman hanging over the scaffold, shaking violently,” he said. He climbed the 35-foot tall scaffold, insulated himself using a piece of wood and separated the electrician from the current line. He then brought the electrician to the floor and tended to him. Meanwhile, employees were calling for an ambulance. The electrician, whose name was not available and lives out of state, was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of shock and burns. He is reportedly doing well. “My main concern was to just get him free,” said Marler, who spent 10 years with the Yuba County Sheriff’s Department before transferring to Yuba City Police. “I’ve had training in emergency medicine and I didn’t think about it, I just did it.” The Medal of Valor is given to employees who voluntarily perform acts that require “unusual courage” and “danger to their personal safety for the purpose of saving or protecting human life.” Nominations for the medal and other department awards are considered by a four-member board and approved by the chief of police. “Jim (Marler) is a very humble individual. If his friends at Home Depot hadn’t contacted us, we wouldn’t have known of it,” said Yuba City Police Chief Richard Doscher, who explained Home Depot Manager Steve Vita informed the department of Marler’s actions. “He does his job and he’s very humble about it.” Tuesday’s announcement of the medal was a surprise to Marler, who had only been told to attend the council meeting for a presentation. Family members said it did not surprise them to hear of Marler’s actions. “He’s always trying to help other people,” said his cousin, Rob Massey of Susanville. “I don’t think he could live with himself otherwise.” The medal was last awarded in 1963 to Officer Glen Williams, who was shot in the heart while searching for a person who had threatened an officer with a firearm.

 

Electrical pole catches on fire

An electrical pole catching on fire has been blamed for the electrical outage Monday afternoon. Wellington City Electric Distribution Superintendent Dewey Rhodd said a bad insulator was the cause for the pole igniting in flames outside Wellington. The outage was the responsibility of KGE, a rural electric distributor, he said. Those inside the city limits were without power for 30 minutes during the noon hour. Electricity was restored when the city fired up the gas turbine. Rhodd said without the turbine, the city would have been without power for an hour and 45 minutes.

 

Electrician working at South Plains Mall dies after touching exposed line

By MICHAEL GAFFNEY, LubbockOnline

Electrician Alex Covarruvias, 41, died Thursday at University Medical Center after receiving a severe shock while working at South Plains Mall. The industrial accident occurred at about 12:30 a.m. when the victim touched an exposed electrical line, said Sgt. Greg Parrott of the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office. The victim was from Cockrell Hill, a suburb about seven miles southwest of Dallas, Parrott said. “One of our deputies was working in an off-duty capacity at the South Plains Mall when it was reported to him shortly after midnight that a 41-year-old Hispanic male had been electrocuted while performing work in the mall,” Parrott said. Parrott said Covarruvias was installing lighting ballasts, a major component of fluorescent light fixtures. “EMS and Fire Department personnel arrived at the scene almost immediately after the call and transported him to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced (dead),” he said. Robert Byers, chief medical investigator for the Lubbock County Medical Examiner’s office, said initial autopsy results indicated that Covarruvias died of accidental electrocution. An official report on Covarruvias’ death will not be complete for a few weeks, Parrott said. The victim was employed by Onsite Commercial Staffing, Parrott said. The Dallas-based company was one of four companies hired to provide energy management services at the mall. Covarruvias had six years experience as an electrician, but Parrott said he did not know if Covarruvias was professionally licensed. “We are investigating this incident as an industrial accident,” Parrott said, “… and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has been notified.” (Staff writer John Reynolds contributed to this article)

 

Death of cable worker ruled an electrocution

Randy Stata, of Catskill, N.Y., was working in Colt State Park on Tuesday when he was electrocuted, the state Medical Examiner’s Office says.

BY SCOTT MAYEROWITZ , Journal Staff Writer

BRISTOL _ The state Medical Examiner’s office has ruled the Tuesday death of a 34-year old man installing cable in Colt State Park an electrocution, the police said. Randy Stata, of Catskill, N.Y., was working shortly before 12:30 p.m. in a metal bucket suspended 25 feet above ground with a colleague below feeding him cable, Lt. Michael Serbst said. Stata touched a live wire and the metal bucket was possibly against a guide wire that ended up grounding the current, Serbst said. The jolt caused Stata to slump over the side of the bucket, Serbst said.. The worker had no vital signs when he was removed from the bucket, Serbst said. Although Bristol rescue workers performed CPR en route to Rhode Island Hospital, Serbst said, the man was pronounced dead there. Stata and two others on his crew were working for Barber Communications, of Athens, N.Y. They were on Asylum Road near the East Bay Bike Path, Serbst said. Full Channel TV Inc., which serves Barrington, Warren and Bristol, had subcontracted work to a company to install cables. That company subcontracted some its work to Barber Communications. An investigation by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration is under way.

 

New York man electrocuted at Colt Park, killed Tuesday afternoon

A New York man was killed Tuesday afternoon in an accident while installing coaxial cables on Asylum Road in Colt State Park for a subcontractor of Full Channel TV.

By: Brian Comfort, November 09, 2001

Randy Stata, 34, from Catskill, N.Y., worked for Barbar Communication out of Athens, N.Y. His company was contracted by Proline Corp., which was hired by Full Channel to install new cable in the area, according to police. His crew was working just west of the East Bay Bike Path on the north side of Asylum Road, stringing the new cable for service to the Quinta-Gamelin Army Reserve center in the park, according to Mike Davis, manager at Full Cable. Mr. Stata was in a metal bucket approximately 25 feet above the ground working near high tension, high voltage wires when he suddenly slumped over in the carrier, said Bristol Police Lt. Michael Serbst. Mr. Davis said Mr. Stata was working amid the foliage of nearby trees and the leaves could have obscured his view or gotten in his way. “We believe he possibly touched the wrong wire thinking it was a guide wire, but it’s still under investigation at this time,” Lt. Serbst said. The police, the medical examiner’s office, Narragansett Electric and OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) are all investigating the case. Lt. Serbst said the Mr. Stata’s co-workers indicated he had been working for the company for 10 years. Bristol Emergency Medical Services workers responded and attempted to revive him on the scene and he was taken by ambulance to Rhode Island Hospital, according to Lt. Serbst. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Though the cause of death is still under investigation, burn marks on the wire he was working on and underneath the wheels of the truck he was suspended from indicate he was electrocuted, Lt. Serbst said.

 

MAN ELECTROCUTED

A MAN who was electrocuted as he worked on an electrical junction box at a garage was named yesterday as William Young, 42, from Muirkirk, Ayrshire.

 

Ludlow man electrocuted

St. Joseph News-Press

TRENTON, Mo. – A Ludlow, Mo., man was electrocuted while tree-trimming Thursday. Elve Dwane Mills, 46, an employee of Gates Tree Trimming Service, was pronounced dead at Wright Memorial Hospital, according to Trenton Police Department officials. Gates Tree Trimming Service was trimming trees away from power lines under a contract with Trenton Municipal Utilities. The accident occurred as the hydraulic bucket came into contact with a 7,620-volt line. A worker noticed that a tire on the truck was burning, attempted to move the truck and was shocked. He was not able to let go of the door handle. Mr. Mills attempted to assist and was electrocuted.

 

Hespeler man electrocuted while working near power panel

CAMBRIDGE – A 30-year-old Hespeler man died when 600 volts of electricity coursed through his body Thursday. He was working inside Custom Aluminum Foundry’s new facility, currently under construction in the city’s eastern industrial park. Around 12:30 p.m., the man, who worked for M&G Millwrights Ltd. of Elmira, was working with a crew installing the last of the equipment in the new foundry slated to open before the end of the month. Officials weren’t certain Thursday if he was connecting or disconnecting an extension cord cuppling near an electrical panel when he was electrocuted. The Ministry of Labour is investigating “The Hydro had been shut off, so I’m not certain what happened,” said Cliff Gingrich, the owner of M&G Millwrights. “Something must have happened to make it live. It should not have been live.” Gingrich was at a loss for words yesterday during a telephone interview from his Elmira office. A year ago, two of his employees were killed when their van collided with a car on a foggy stretch of Highway 7/8 near New Hamburg. “Two young men, 22 and 23 years old, died coming back from a job in Tavistock and now this, ” Gingrich said. “I guess I don’t know what to say at this point, except to say I’m just so sorry it happened.” The man had been employed by M&G for about three-and-a-half years and was named job foreman about three months ago. Gingrich said the company would be closed Friday and grief counsellors were being made available to assist the 60 employees. Thursday, about a half-dozen of the man’s co-workers and Custom Aluminum employees milled around the foundry floor, speaking quietly among themselves. Yellow caution tape surrounded the large electrical panel where the man was working when he was electrocuted. Witnesses knew the man was in trouble when he fell face down onto the concrete floor. He suffered burn marks on his chest and right hand. He never regained consciousness. Waterloo Regional Police were the first to arrive, after the man’s co-workers called 911. “Someone said he had a pulse prior to emergency crews arriving, but had lost it when we arrived,” said Sergeant Frank Monteiro. Firefighters performed CPR until paramedics arrived. He was transported by ambulance to Cambridge Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. A co-worker called the man’s wife, who met the ambulance at the hospital. The death was the eighth workplace-related fatality in Cambridge and North Dumfries Township in the past two years.

 

Power station explosion blacks out Brisbane homes

Thousands of homes and businesses in Brisbane’s western and southern suburbs have lost power due to a substation fire at Tennyson. The Fire and Rescue Authority says the blaze involves 30,000 litres of transmission oil and broke out after an explosion in a transformer at the Memorial Avenue substation. Firefighter at the scene Tom Dawson, says the fire has been contained and the major problem now is the toxic black smoke. “We just commenced a large foam attack to extinguish this fire and once we can make the area safe, Energex crews can start bringing back on power to the local area,” he said. “We’re actually just now commencing to evacuate some adjacent premises… as our extinction of the fire gets more successful we’re producing a bit more smoke, lower level, so we’re just monitoring the plume and moving people as we need to.”

 

2 TXU workers burned in blast

By PEYTON D. WOODSON, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH – Two TXU Electric & Gas workers were critically burned Monday evening when a street transformer exploded in west Fort Worth. The two men, 41 and 36, had third-degree burns and were taken by helicopter ambulance to Dallas’ Parkland Memorial Hospital, police said. Their names were not released. They were working on an underground transformer at the intersection of Camp Bowie Boulevard and Bernie Anderson Avenue when the explosion occurred about 6:30 p.m., Fort Worth police officer D.H. Towson said. A fireball engulfed both men. The 41-year-old man was burned on his face, arms, chest and back, Towson said. The 36-year-old worker was burned on his face, arms and chest. The explosion disturbed electrical power in the area for several hours. David Beshear, a TXU spokesman, said the cause of the explosion is under investigation. “We’re very concerned about the situation right now,” Beshear said. “We don’t have a cause. It’s very rare. Safety is something we stress. Anytime something like this happens, we’re extremely concerned.”

 

Explosion at Sears injures two in Middleburg Heights

Reported by Tom Beres , October 29, 2001

MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio — An explosion under a local Sears store has critically injured two people. An electrical crew was installing two high-voltage lines in the basement when an explosion rocked the Sears building at Southland Shopping center in Middleburg Heights Monday at 9 a.m. The store was not open, but the basement holds a phone credit center where 250 workers were on the job. The two injured workers were badly burned. Middleburg Heights Fire Chief Bernie Benedict said the workers suffered third degree burns and were conscious when they were transported to MetroHealth Medical for treatment. Sixteen call center workers were taken to Parma Community Southwest General and Fairview Hospital, mainly for smoke inhallation problems. Middleburg Heights Parma Heights, Strongsville and Berea firefighters responded to the accident. The Sears store will remain closed Monday as Cleveland Electric Illuminating crews and firefighters examine damage and attempt to determine the cause of the explosion.

 

Bon Aqua electrician recovering from burns

A Hickman County electrician was recovering last night from burns he received Wednesday night while working on electrical lines for Nashville Electric Service. Scott Morgan, 39, of Bon Aqua, was in Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s burn unit, where he was listed last night in critical but stable condition, a hospital spokes-man said. Morgan is employed by an out-of-state business, Davis H. Elliott Co., which was doing contract work for NES, said Teresa Corlew, NES spokeswoman. Corlew said that Morgan was burned about 8 p.m., but that the incident was not related to Wednesday night’s storms. She said she did not know details of how the injury occurred. – Christian Bottorff

 

Utility Worker Electrocuted In Luverne

South Dakota Man, 20, Killed On The Job Saturday

Posted: 2:29 p.m. CDT October 23, 2001

LUVERNE, Minn. – A South Dakota man is dead after an accident while working on utility poles in Luverne in southwestern Minnesota. Authorities got a call Saturday afternoon that 20-year-old Bradley Herr had been electrocuted while working in an alley next to the National Guard Armory. Herr was dead at the scene. Herr’s father was notified in Waubay, South Dakota, but authorities aren’t sure if that’s where Bradley Herr lived. Authorities say Herr was working on utility poles for a cable TV subcontractor when he fell off a ladder. The official cause of death is listed as massive head injuries secondary to electrocution.

 

Brenham man, 31, dies after being electrocuted

By HOLLY HUFFMAN, Eagle Staff Writer

Funeral Services were held Monday for a Brenham man who was electrocuted by a power tool last week at a construction site in Washington County. Jason Benedict Hauerland, 31, was standing on a metal ladder and using an impact wrench to tighten bolts on a metal building frame when the wrench shorted and electrocuted him, said Carlene Starr Davis of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. A Bluebonnet Electric Company employee, Hauerland had been working with a construction crew on Kelm Road when the accident occurred just before 4:30 p.m. on Friday, she said. Paramedics were called and crew members began cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but their efforts failed and Hauerland was later pronounced dead at Trinity Medical Center in Brenham, Davis said. Services for Hauerland were held at 3 p.m. Monday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Brenham. He was buried in Eben Ezer Lutheran Church Cemetery. The Brenham native was a graduate of Burton High School, where he was on the 1987 state baseball team. He attended Blinn College and was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. He is survived by his wife, Peggy Weidner Hauerland, and two sons, Preston Hauerland and Payton Hauerland.

 

Man electrocuted in crane accident
From AAP, October 10, 2001

A MAN is in hospital in a serious condition after receiving an electric shock from high tension powerlines while operating a crane in Melbourne’s west. The 50-year-old man was in the crane at the Victoria University of Technology, on the corner of Geelong and Ballarat roads in Footscray, when the crane hit the overhead powerlines about 9.20am (AEST). A Metropolitan Ambulance Service spokesman said the man was hit by 100,000 volts of electricity and suffered entry and exit wounds.  He said the man was taken by MICA (mobile intensive care) ambulance to Western Hospital in a serious condition.  The spokesman said the man was conscious and talking to paramedics.