Electrical Accidents page 4

Electrical Accidents #4

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

 

36,000-Volt Charge Critically Injures Roofer, Victim’s Body Burned More Than 30 Percent
October 22, 2002
LOS ANGELES — A roofer was critically burned Tuesday by an electrical current of up to 36,000 votes, authorities said. The accident occurred when some metal he was removing from a Glassell Park building came in contact with an electrical transformer. The 35-year-old man was atop a single-story commercial building in the 4000 block of Eagle Rock Boulevard when the accident occurred shortly before noon, said Brian Humphrey of the city fire department. The electrical current that injured the man was “up to 36,000 volts,” Humphrey said. Paramedics reported that the man suffered first-, second- and third-degree electrical burns over more than 30 percent of his body, Humphrey said. The circumstances of the accident were under investigation. 

Contractor Shocked
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) – A contractor was shocked by 480 volts of electricity when he accidentally touched a live wire at the Rochester School for the Deaf, authorities said. The 31-year-old man, who was not identified, was hurt Monday after drilling into a wall, Rochester Fire Department Capt. Dan McBride said. The man made it out of the building on his own, McBride said. The accident started a small fire. About 25 students were in a dining hall, two floors up from a boiler room where the electrical fire occurred, school spokeswoman Nisha Ferry said. The children were evacuated after the fire alarm sounded and were dispersed to other buildings on campus, Ferry said. The man suffered third-degree burns to his right hand and was treated at Rochester General Hospital, Rural-Metro Ambulance officials said. 

Worker shocked by 480 volts
Democrat and Chronicle 
(October 22, 2002) — An unidentified contractor was injured in an electrical fire Monday morning at the Rochester School for the Deaf, 1545 St. Paul St. The man was working on an electrical tray in a building that also houses the cafeteria and infirmary when he was shocked by a 480-volt line, said Rochester Fire Department Capt. Dan McBride. The man made it out of the building on his own, McBride said. School spokeswoman Nisha Ferry said about 25 students were in a dining hall, two floors up from a boiler room where the electrical fire occurred at 11:30 a.m. The fire alarm was activated and the children evacuated the building and were sent to other buildings on campus. Officials did not release the name or the condition of the injured contractor. Power was expected to be turned on Monday night, with classes resuming today as scheduled. 

UPDATE, Arcing circuit breaker blamed for Nucor injury 
October 21, 2002
NORFOLK, Neb.- A circuit breaker that unexpectedly arced was blamed for an electrical flash at the Nucor Steel plant that left one person critically injured. The accident happened around 6 p.m. Saturday at the plant’s No. 2 rolling mill that is in the process of being upgraded, company officials said Monday. Jeremy Monk, a 28-year-old worker from Martinsville, Ind., was transported to Faith Regional Health Services in Norfolk and later flown by helicopter to St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Lincoln. He was listed in critical condition Monday at the burn center. Monk is employed by Interstates Electric of Sioux Center, Iowa, which had contracted with Nucor to do electrical work as part of an upgrade project, said Dave Crumrine, company president. “He was one of the most safety-driven people around. It’s unimaginable that this could have happened,” Crumrine said. The company was trying to determine what caused the arc, Crumrine said. “It’s a very unusual occurrence,” he said. Contrary to initial reports, the electrical flash did not cause a fire or an explosion, Crumrine said. However, it did lead to some sparks and smoke, he said. 

Worker burned in Norfolk explosion
BY SHANNON HENSON WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER 
NORFOLK, Neb. – A man was critically injured in an industrial accident late Saturday at Nucor Steel, authorities said Sunday. The 28-year-old, whose identity was not released, was being treated at St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center in Lincoln. He suffered third-degree burns over more than 25 percent of his body, including his arms and face. It was unclear what happened. The man was hired by a subcontractor, Interstate Electric based in Sioux Center, Iowa, authorities said. Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger said another worker was treated at a local hospital and was released. No damage was done to the plant, said John Bass, division controller. “Our prayers go out to this individual and his family,” Bass said. Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Department will investigate.

City construction worker electrocuted
2002-10-21 By Ken Raymond The Oklahoman
An Oklahoma City construction worker died Monday morning after coming into contact with a high-voltage power line. About 9:40 a.m., Mark Tiger, 35, was moving steel beams with a mini-crane at a construction site near 2010 SW 10, said Paul O’Leary, EMSA spokesman. As the crane moved through a soggy, muddy field, one of the beams struck the power line, sending a surge of electricity through Tiger’s body. “I don’t know where it went in,” O’Leary said, “but it exited his feet.” When firefighters arrived, Tiger was in full cardiac arrest, and attempts to revive him failed, O’Leary said. Paramedics managed to generate a heartbeat, but the rhythm was unstable, and when the victim reached OU Medical Center, he was pronounced dead. “He probably had internal injuries,” O’Leary said. “When you’re hit with that kind of current, it often burns internal organs, and even though you can get a heartbeat, the damage inside is severe.” Several of Tiger’s coworkers from Rogers Construction were present but uninjured. 

Worker dies at Mtarfa 
by Charlotte Bonavia, di-ve news Monday, 21 October, 2002 
He fell off the roof of a garage following an electricity shock
Rabat, MALTA (di-ve news) — A 31-year-old Birkirkara man died after falling off a garage’s roof at Triq il-Maqdes Ruman, Mtarfa following an electricity shock while working with concrete, this evening at 1800 CET. An ambulance was called on site and took the man to St. Luke’s Hospital where he died an hour later. Duty Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani Grima was informed about the case and appointed various experts to assist in the inquiry. Rabat District Police are investigating.

 

Cambridge man is electrocuted
October 17, 2002
CAMBRIDGE – A Cambridge man was electrocuted Tuesday while installing metal guttering on a home at 800 Glasgow St. Keith Phillips of Cambridge, was installing metal guttering when one piece of guttering he was holding accidentally made contact with an electric power line, according to Cambridge police. Cambridge EMS and Cambridge police responded to the scene and transported Phillips to Dorchester General Hospital. Phillips died as a result of his injuries. The incident is being investigated by Maryland Occupation Safety and Health.

Wastewater plant fire injures three
BY JOE KOLMAN WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
An electrical fire at the Papillion Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant injured three workers and will keep the facility out of order for at least a few days. As a result, the City of Omaha is discharging about 55 million gallons of untreated sewage into the Missouri River daily. Workers were inspecting a malfunction at the plant when the fire started about 3 p.m. Friday, Acting Public Works Director Norm Jackman said Saturday. Two of the employees were treated and released, Jackman said, but the other remains under care for third-degree burns to his arms. “I think it was a pretty scary deal for a lot of people,” said Jackman, who declined to release the names of the workers. The plant at 15705 Harlan Lewis Road in Bellevue is not processing any sewage, Jackman said, but treatment is expected to resume by Tuesday. He said the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality was informed of the situation. The city issued an advisory against wading or swimming in the Missouri for several miles downstream from the confluence of the Missouri and Papillion Creek.

Electrical worker killed 
Frank Hammon
A Rappahannock Electric Cooperative lineman was fatally injured by an electrical contact this morning while working in Spotsylvania County. The employee, 35-year-old Clarence Jeter of Caroline County, was performing routine work when the incident occurred. Co-workers trained in first aid immediately provided assistance. He was rushed to Mary Washington Hospital for additional medical care, but was pronounced dead. The incident which occurred in the Paytes area is under investigation by REC’s safety officer and state and local officials. 

OSHA investigates apparent electrocution
Associated Press October 16, 2002
WATERTOWN, Conn. — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the electrocution of a 45-year-old Middletown man at a cable manufacturing plant. Daniel Breault was found unresponsive Monday at The Siemon Co., where he was working as a subcontractor on an electrical panel that adjusts the speed of a large compressor at the plant, police said. “Apparently his arm was in contact with an electrical wire,” police Lt. Robert Desena said. The chief medical examiner’s office determined that Breault was electrocuted and ruled his death accidental. A Siemon employee found Breault near the loading dock. He was not breathing, police said. Rescue crews tried to revive him for 15 minutes before doctors took over. Seimon officials referred questions to company lawyer William Cass of Bloomfield, who declined comment. 

Worker at BWI dies while using jackhammer
By A Sun Staff Writer Originally published October 16, 2002
A construction worker at Baltimore-Washington International Airport died yesterday – apparently electrocuted while operating a jackhammer, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Aviation Administration said. Ernest Oden Jones, 52, of the 1800 block of Copeland St. in the Bywater Estates Apartments in Annapolis was working in a trench across from the passenger terminal’s lower level about 1:30 p.m. when he collapsed onto the jackhammer, said spokeswoman Cheryl Carley. Paramedics and police officers attempted to revive Jones before he was taken by ambulance to North Arundel Hospital. He was pronounced dead there at 2:30 p.m. Authorities were awaiting an autopsy.

 

Three men hospitalized after electrical explosion
Herald News Services 
An electrical explosion early Saturday injured three workers at a downtown office tower. The accident happened at 11:50 a.m. shortly after the annual electrical shutdown began at Fifth Avenue Place, 425 1st St. S.W. The power was supposed to be off in the 35-storey building for the entire long weekend, beginning at midnight Friday. An explosion was reported 50 minutes later and paramedics were dispatched to treat several patients. Calgary Emergency Medical Services transported three men to Foothills Hospital. No details were available regarding the nature or extent of the men’s injuries. Jennifer LaFitte, tenant relations co-ordinator for Brookfield Properties, which owns the building, refused to comment.

 

Foreman is sentenced to jail in construction worker’s death
The foreman for a construction company who pleaded guilty to causing a Toledo worker’s death was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay fines and court costs totaling $1,160. James Morrin, Jr., of Temperance, foreman for J.A. Concrete Construction Co. of Toledo, appeared before Monroe County Circuit Judge Joseph Costello Thursday. He began serving 359 days of the sentence – he received one day of credit, and the judge did not order the remaining five days, said Vanessa Longsworth, court spokeswoman. The judge also ordered J.A. Concrete to pay $145,593 to the victim’s family in restitution and $8,745 in fines and court costs. The company will be on probation for five years and perform 180 days of community service, Ms. Longsworth said. Morrin pleaded guilty in July to one count of willful criminal violation of Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration work site safety rules. The company entered a no-contest plea to the same charge as well as to one count of involuntary manslaughter as part of a plea agreement. The charges resulted from the August 2000, death of Robert Sorge, 24. He was backing his raised dump truck through the interior of a strip mall being built in Dundee, guided from behind by Morrin, when the top of the box touched a power line. When Mr. Sorge opened his cab door to escape the ensuing fire, he was killed by electric shock, police said.

 

Transformer explosion injures 2 
Saturday, October 12, 2002 By Michaelangelo Conte Journal staff writer 
Two Jersey City workers suffered burns and were hospitalized after a transformer they were working on in the Heights exploded yesterday, officials said. The accident occurred while Jersey City Municipal Utility Authority employees Joe Bruno and Edward Morales were working on an above-ground electrical transfer vault on Congress Street at Paterson Plank Road at 1:39 p.m., said Fire Department Deputy Director Jose Cruz. Apparently, one of the tools the men were using came in contact with an electrical cable and the resulting short circuit caused a transformer in the vault to explode, Cruz said. The men suffered burns on their hands, arms and faces and were taken to the Jersey City Medical Center where they were admitted, said Cruz, adding that the burns were not life threatening. 

A near disaster as PG&E lines collapse
By Andrew Pridgen
With a flurry, of sparks, fire, and explosions, a 12,000-volt PG&E line collapsed in Point Reyes Station at 4:30 p.m. Friday, leaving a key intersection tangled in live electrical wires. The high-voltage lines came close to electrocuting a 17-year-old bicyclist, Leroux Prater who lives near the intersection, and did strike a car being driven by a pregnant motorist, Jennifer Sulprizio of Inverness. However, Sulprizio and her two-year-old son in the backseat of her car were not injured because the BMW’s rubber tires prevented the electricity from grounding. Prater, was at Greenbridge Gas and Auto when a tranformer on a pole by the air-and-water station began sparking. He and others in the area gathered – seemingly at a safe distance – to watch the sparking when numerous overhead lines criss-crossing the intersection of Highway 1 and Mesa Road fell to the ground almost simultaneously. A strip of heavy insulation landed on the head of the youth, who threw himself from his bicycle just as a 12,000-volt line missed his head by a foot and landed on the ground where it started sparking. “That thing came so close to hitting me!” he exclaimed afterward. As it happened, a Shoreline schoolbus was trapped by the falling lines, but only the driver was onboard and not was hurt. Explaining what apparently occurred, PG&E spokesman Lloyd Coker and utility workers at the scene said a workman in a cherry picker had overly loosened a line uphill from the Creamery Building during a maintenance project. The worker apparently failed to realize how much tension power poles downhill were putting on the the line, and when the line was loosened it snapped, causing crossbars to drop from the downhill poles. PG&E workers quickly shut off power in the immediate area as they put the fallen wires back on poles. “Since crews were already there working, all repairs were completed within an hour – by 5:25 p.m.,” said Coker. “A phone line was also taken down, and we called them to send a crew to fix their line as well.” The mishap was only one of three this past week in which PG&E lines fell. The other two both occurred Saturday: one on Highway 1 in Marshall and the other at Dillon Beach and Middle roads in Tomales. Both incidents were caused by vehicles running into power poles. 

Electrical accident kills man
Palatka Daily News
An investigation into the electrocution death of a 37-year-old Keuka area resident is ongoing. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and the area Medical Examiner’s Office in St. Augustine are investigation the Sunday death of Amick Alexander Whitfield. According to a sheriff’s office report, Whitfield was using a makeshift tool to restore power to his residence when the tool came into contact with high voltage power lines. Whitfield was standing on top of an aluminum ladder, which had been placed in the bed of his pickup truck. He was attempting to close a fuse on the power pole which supplied electricity to his residence when the incident occurred around 6:40 p.m. Sunday. Power to the residence had been cut off by Florida Power & Light at an earlier date, according to the report. Whitfield lived at 200 Vancouver Road off Keuka Road west of Interlachen. Detective Dell Parker said it appears the incident was an accidental death. The investigation will continue until all pertinent facts have been gathered, according to Parker. 

Farm equipment hits power line; man dies
St. Joseph News-Press 
CHULA, Mo. — A rural Livingston County man was electrocuted Monday after a piece of farm equipment he was moving accidentally struck overhead power lines. Livingston County Sheriff Steve Cox said 56-year-old Lloyd Clifton Drake of Chula, Mo., was pronounced dead by county coroner J. Scott Lindley. Mr. Cox said the sheriff’s department received a call at 10:22 a.m. regarding a man needing emergency medical assistance on a rural farm. He said Mr. Drake had been moving a grain auger when the incident occurred. The Linn County Sheriff’s Department, the Chillicothe Department of Emergency Services, Chula Fire Department and local first responders assisted the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department in investigating the incident.

 

UPDATE, VisionQuest to challenge OSHA penalties
An organization that operates programs for youthful male and female offenders will challenge penalties leveled by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following the death of an employee, an official said. VisionQuest, which operates programs in Arizona, Florida, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Colorado, faces $126,000 in penalzties for two willful violations and five serious violations, OSHA said. The violations follow the February death of maintenance worker Bradley E. Rhodes, 20, of Utica, who died after he was shocked by a 19,000-volt power line at VisionQuest’s Franklin campus. He was injured when he tried to remove a pair of shoes that had been thrown onto a power line. VisionQuest doesn’t dispute that the accident happened, but Rhodes was not asked to remove the shoes from the power line, said Beth Ann Rosica, vice president for research and development at VisionQuest in Coatesville, Chester County. “Under OSHA, we have the right to challenge the citations, and we are in the process of challenging all of the citations,” Rosica said. The process could take up to a year. The organization faces willful violations because it allowed unqualified employees to work near electrical lines with a backhoe, said OSHA, which filed the violations in August. According to OSHA, willful violations are those committed with an intentional disregard of or indifference to the administration’s requirements. While OSHA was investigating Rhodes’ death, it found other problems at the facility, include unguarded machinery and improperly storage of compressed gas cylinders, the agency said. VisionQuest also faces sanctions for those alleged violations. “We are committed to employee safety. We are very saddened about the death of Brad and we’re working on a comprehensive safety plan. We’ve always had one, but we are reanalyzing it to make sure employees work in a safe work environment,” Rosica said.

 

Construction worker electrocuted 
MURFREESBORO (AP) — One construction worker was electrocuted and another critically injured Wednesday when the equipment they were working on touched a group of high-voltage power lines, fire officials said. The men, working on a Thompson Lane construction site, were operating a drill when its tip hit the power lines above them, said Lionel Holladay, a driver engineer for the Murfreesboro Fire Department. That caused the power line to arch against the equipment and break in half. Firefighters quickly put out a small grass fire sparked when the line fell. One man was pronounced dead at the scene. The other was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where he was in critical condition Wednesday evening. Officials refused to identify either man until their families are notified.

 

Marshall man electrocuted while working 
(Schoolcraft-AP, October 4, 2002, 8:30 a.m.) A Marshall man was fatally electrocuted Thursday while working on a home in Schoolcraft. Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Department officials say 41 year-old Keith Eugene Keiper died when a 32 foot aluminum ladder he was carrying hit a power line. He was pronounced dead at the scene by South County Ambulance and Schoolcraft Rescue personnel.

 

Electrocution claims construction worker 
By SCHERI SMITH, Staff Writer
One man was killed and another was critically injured today after the construction equipment they were operating made contact with an overhead power line in Murfreesboro. The 3 p.m. accident caused nearly 2,000 people to be without power for a couple hours this afternoon, said Chris Jones, spokesman for Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corp. The victims’ names were unavailable tonight. The man who survived was in critical condition, said Bill Snyder, spokesman for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Jones said the men were part of a crew hired by developers planning to build a new shopping center off Thompson Lane, on land that had once been proposed as the site of Murfreesboro’s publicly built ”commerce center” complex. The men were using a machine called a track drill to dig holes when the machine’s arm came into contact with a power line. ”Generally most of our power lines carry about 14,400 volts,” he said. ”I know the human body cannot tolerate that much electricity.” Murfreesboro Mayor Tommy Bragg would not comment on the accident because he had not heard about it this evening. Jones said power was rerouted and restored about two hours after the accident. Scheri Smith covers Rutherford County for The Tennessean. She can be reached at 259-8094 or [email protected].

 

Investigation Looks Into Electrocution Of Workers; Police Find Men Dead In Lift Bucket
MERIDEN, Conn. — Federal investigators are trying to determine how two men were electrocuted while working on a utility vehicle at a city building. Meriden police said the two men were power-washing bricks on the Stoddard Municipal Building on Miller Street Wednesday. They were in a bucket that rises from the truck. “They were power washing with water, and we’re not sure if the bucket hit the line or water arched and hit the line,” said Sgt. Leonard Caponigro. The bucket was not touching any wires when rescuers arrived, fire officials said. Police identified the workers as Eugeno Torres, 47, and Hector Leon, 50, both of New Haven, who were pronounced dead at the scene. The men worked for Milestone Restoration Inc., of New Haven. The contractor had been working for about two months repairing brickwork at the city building. Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were investigating. Firefighters responded at about 4:30 p.m. to a call saying that two workers needed help, Caponigro said. The two men were the only members of the power washing crew. Rescuers could not resuscitate the workers, Caponigro said. “When we got there, the construction basket was up, the pressure washer hose was dangling, the men were down inside the basket and primary wires were probably a foot overhead,” fire Capt. Mark Graber said. An hour before the call, a passer-by saw the two men in the raised bucket and thought they were sleeping. Cathy Antonetty said one worker had his face in his hands and the other was slumped over. She said she yelled up to the bucket in Spanish to ask Torres and Leon if they were sleeping. Neither responded. “It didn’t look right, but I thought they were taking a nap,” Antonetty said. Beth Vumbaco, director of the city’s Health and Human Services Department, located in the Stoddard building, described Torres and Leon as nice men who were hard workers. Rich Hansen, manager of customer operations for Connecticut Light & Power Inc., said the lines that run through the alley produce up to 4,800 volts. The average plug in a house puts out 120 volts.

 

UPDATE, Contractor pays fine for Brentwood accident 
By Jan Ackerman, Post-Gazette Staff Writer 
A Castle Shannon masonry company paid a $2,800 fine to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for a citation issued after a crane operator was critically injured at a job site at a Brentwood shopping center project this summer. Marsa Inc. paid the fine last month to settle a citation filed by OSHA after Dale Haslett, 29, of South Park, was critically burned and two other construction workers were slightly injured after a scaffold being moved by a crane on June 25 came in contact with a high voltage power line. OSHA assistant area director Edward Selker said the federal agency imposed a $4,000 fine, but reduced it to $2,800 after an informal settlement conference last month. The company was fined for moving a scaffold closer than 10 feet to an energized power line. At about 10:42 a.m. on June 25, workers from Marsa were moving a tower scaffold when it came close enough to a 138,000-volt power line that the line arced and sent large bolts of electricity to the ground. Haslett, who suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body, remained at Mercy Hospital until Aug. 3. Two other workers, Joseph Scott Taylor, 35, of Charleroi, and Christopher Guty, 22, of Uniontown, were treated and released on June 26, Mercy Hospital spokeswoman Linda Ross said.

 

Iowa farmer and son killed in accident 
AP
A northeast Iowa farmer and his son have died in an accident on their farm near Allison in Butler County. The sheriff’s office says 52-year old Harlan Steere and his 18-year old son, Brock, were electrocuted Tuesday morning while moving a grain auger. Officials say they were moving the machine by hand when it touched a power line. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

 

Man treated for electrical burns
A 47-year-old Baltimore man was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Friday morning for injuries he received when he apparently touched electrical equipment on the roof of a hangar at the former Fairchild Aircraft plant, said Philip Ridenour, fire chief at the Hagerstown Regional Airport. The victim’s name and condition were not available Friday night. He suffered third-degree burns on his hands and neck and second-degree burns on his face and chest, Ridenour said. He was conscious when emergency crews arrived on the scene and when he arrived at the Baltimore hospital, Ridenour said. He was placed in the burn unit, Ridenour said. He was working inside an electrical substation when the accident occurred, Ridenour said. Airport workers on a nearby roof said they saw smoke coming from the substation. Rescuers at the scene said the victim may have been hit with a 15,000-volt electrical surge. The man was employed by a Baltimore company hired to work on the roof. Weather conditions Friday morning grounded state police helicopters. The victim was taken to the hospital by ambulance. An Allegheny Power crew was called to the scene to restore power, a utility company spokeswoman said.

 

Former Morenci city officer dies in electrical accident
DiCenso’s ladder hits power line on the job
MORENCI, Mich. – A former police officer who battled this city for more than a year to keep his job died of electrical shock yesterday when his metal ladder accidentally touched an overheard power line. Pasquel Joseph DiCenso, 53, who started a roofing company after leaving law enforcement last year, was trying to avoid the power line when the accident occurred, a co-worker told Lenawee County sheriff’s deputies. Morenci is in southern Lenawee County, about 40 miles northwest of Toledo. The news surprised officials in the small town where Mr. DiCenso worked as a police officer for about 20 years. “We’re clearly all upset here,” said Renee Schroeder, the city’s clerk/administrator. Mr. DiCenso’s relationship with the city soured in September, 1999, after he parked his truck in front of the Fairfield Township hall, temporarily preventing an ambulance from responding to a minor accident. According to Lenawee County sheriff’s department officials, Mr. DiCenso said he blocked the vehicle because he was angry that one of the firefighters may have cut him off earlier on the road. He was charged in Lenawee County District Court with interfering with a firefighter and suspended from the department without pay. On Feb. 25, 2000, Mr. DiCenso was sentenced to one year of probation, ordered to perform 80 hours of community service, and fined $350 after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor charge. Shortly after the court case, the Morenci City Council fired him only to reinstate him in April, 2001, after a state arbitrator ruled against the council’s decision. He left the department in 2001, when the city bought out his contract, allowing him to retire. Mr. DiCenso was at a work site on Morey Highway in Medina Township yesterday at the time of the 7:25 a.m. accident. He was later pronounced dead at Bixby Medical Center. No funeral information was available yesterday.

 

Carpenter Is Electrocuted
By Rocco Parascandola, Staff Writer
A carpenter changing ceiling tiles at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine was fatally electrocuted Friday afternoon, police said. Christpher DeMayo, 32, was on a ladder in a hallway on the fourth floor when he came in contact with wiring for an exit sign, police said. The electrical bolt sent him sprawling to the ground. Doctors rushed to his aid, but he was pronounced dead a short time later at the Jack D. Weiler hospital next door. DeMayo, who lived in Duchess County and was married with two children, worked at the college of medicine for 13 years. “The accident is being looked into very carefully,’’ said spokeswoman Karen Gardner. “It’s a very upsetting tragedy for us.

An accident near Hagerstown this morning 
By Natasha Ginsburg
HAGERSTOWN, MD SEPTEMBER 27 – An electrical accident near Hagerstown Regional Airport has sent a man to the hospital. The incident happened around 9:30 Friday morning at the Top Flight Airport near Hagerstown Regional Airport. The man, who is said to be a roofing contractor, was working on the roof at the time of the accident. Fire and rescue officials had two ladder trucks on the scene, one to take up the equipment and one to take the victim down. Phil Ridenour of Hagerstown Regional Airport gave a synopsis on how the incident occured. “Electricity will follow the path of least resistance, and in this case, you never know. It could have been because of the rain, he was wet, it followed the outside of his clothing rather than the internal part of his body and I wouldn’t really likely say for sure but he’s a very lucky man. For the amount of power that’s coming into the facility, he’s very lucky.” The victim was taken to the hospital with first-degree burns to his hands and face. Rescue workers said the man was conscious and talking the whole time. 

UPDATE, Firefighter nearly electrocuted returns to light duty in Tulare
By Luis Hernandez, For the Times-Delta
TULARE — Eight months after he was nearly electrocuted and sustained several third-degree burns while on duty, Tulare firefighter Luis Nevarez has returned to work. I am happy to be back at my home away from home,” Nevarez said. Assigned to light duty, Nevarez, a 10-year firefighter, will split his time between fire prevention and fire suppression. While working with the prevention division, Nevarez will help in the office. But when working for the suppression division, Nevarez will train with on-duty firefighters, practicing the duties he’ll have to perform before he can return to full duty. “That’s my ultimate goal,” said Nevarez, who went back to work Monday. Because of the injuries sustained in the January accident, Nevarez lost his left hand and sustained third-degree burns on his back, legs and the finger tips of his right hand. Some of the wounds are still healing, he said. Nevarez sustained the injuries when he inadvertently touched a downed power line. Nevarez, along with Mark Fernandes and Pat Marquez, responded to a call about power lines down. Nevarez said he was called over by a resident because leaves on a tree were smoldering. Nevarez, who is right-handed, said he first reached with his right hand to break off a branch and then with his left to snap off another. The second branch was touching the power line, Nevarez said. “I didn’t see it,” he said. Nevarez was knocked down, still holding the power line, and Fernandes, instinctively, used his clipboard to knock the power line from Nevarez’s hand. Nevarez said Fernandes saved his life. “To me, Mark is the hero,” Nevarez said. Burned in his memory Nevarez said he remembers everything about his accident. He remembers being put onto a carrying board paramedics brought out to carry him; he remembers telling a fellow firefighter to take him to Kaweah Delta Hospital; he remembers telling medical personnel to give him a 7-Up instead of medication; he remembers the pain he felt after touching the power line. Nevarez spent 33 days at University Medical Center burn unit in Fresno, undergoing several surgeries. While Nevarez was at the hospital, firefighters from several departments visited him. His parents drove up from the Los Angeles area to spend time with him. “My parents have been with me since day one,” Nevarez said. When he was released from the hospital, friends and family welcomed him back. They hung a big banner that read “Welcome home, Luis.” Grateful for support “Everybody has been real supportive,” he said. “I want to thank everybody.” Nevarez started his rehabilitation a few days after being released from the hospital and it still continues. First, he had to learn how to operate a prosthesis. Now, he is working to gain back strength and weight. He works on rehabilitation about an 1 1/2 hours three times a week. He says he has tried to keep a positive attitude throughout his rehabilitation but there have been some hard times. “I might get depressed sometimes,” he said. “But I know I have to snap out of it.” Fire Capt. Ken Dodson said he doesn’t doubt that Nevarez can make a full return. “Lou has the perfect attitude,” Dodson said. “He not only is mentally strong, but also physically strong. He can do it.” Nevarez vowed to return. “This still has a happy ending,” he said.

 

Country Energy worker struck by lightning
THE Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service yesterday transported an 18-year-old Gilgandra man to Tamworth Base Hospital after he was struck by lightning. The man and a colleague were in a cherry picker installing insulation to electrical wires for Country Energy about 30km east of Coonabarabran when lightning struck the wires at about 10am. Although the wires were not connected, a single wire was resting on the cherry picker bucket while they attached the insulation and it conducted electricity from a strike nearby. The man was not hit directly by the strike, however ambulance officers were concerned about possible internal injuries indicated by external bruising on his thighs. A Westpac Rescue Helicopter spokesperson said while it was not immediately obvious, lightning strikes had the potential to damage internal organs and result in their failure. The patient arrived in Tamworth about 12.30pm in a stable condition.

 

Electrical worker OK after short-circuit, trip to hospital
BY JOE DEJKA, WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER 
An underground cable carrying 13,800 volts of electricity short-circuited at an Omaha power substation Thursday, sending a worker to a hospital. A crew was excavating shortly after noon to replace cables at the Omaha Public Power District substation at 60th Street and Sorensen Parkway. The 27-year-old worker for Omaha Boring, a subcontractor of Nielsen Construction, was not seriously injured, according to spokesmen for the district and the company. “They told me he was fine, other than he was pretty shook up,” said Jim Nielsen, president of Nielsen Construction. “They took him to the hospital as a precaution.” The man was treated at Immanuel Medical Center and was released. Workers were aware of the live cable, which might have been faulty, Nielsen said. Mike Jones, a power district spokesman, said that doing such excavation around a live cable was normal procedure. Jones said he was not sure if the existing cable was in poor condition or if the excavation equipment came into contact with it. After the accident, the district shut off power to the substation from 12:24 p.m. to 12:44 p.m. as a safety precaution. The outage affected homes between 48th and 55th Streets, from Pratt Street to Kansas Avenue. 

Carrollton man electrocuted on job site
By: Jennifer Minyard, Staff Writer 
Services for a Carrollton man who was electrocuted on a job site Monday will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Williams & Lord Funeral Home. James Louis “Chad” Chadwick III, 21, a sheet metal technician for Central Heating & Air in Grenada, was installing an air conditioner in Charleston home when he came into contact with electrical wiring in the attic, Harry D. Lehman Jr., owner of the company, told the Daily Sentinel-Star in Grenada. The accident was reported at 2:37 p.m., and Chadwick was taken to Tallahatchie General Hospital, where he died less than two hours later. A second employee, James Pratt, also received a slight shock but was in good condition Tuesday. Two Charleston firefighters attempting to rescue Chadwick also received slight shocks. Lehman had been on the site with Chadwick and Pratt but had left about 10 minutes before the accident occurred. “Everyone told me that everything happened really fast,” he said. Chadwick had been employed by Central Heating & Air since Sept. 4, 2001. Lehman said Chadwick’s wife, Ashley, told him how much her husband loved his job. “He was a very hard worker and had a great personality,” said James O. Johnson, office manager for the company. A native of Louisiana, Chadwick had been a resident of Greenwood and Carrollton for most of his life. He was a 1999 honor graduate of Greenwood High School and attended Mississippi Delta Community College. He enjoyed hunting and fishing. He was a member of Winona Community Baptist Church. He is survived by his wife, Ashley Ellis Chadwick of Carrollton; his mother and stepfather, Robin Goss Dunn and Johnny Dunn of Greenwood; his father and stepmother, James Louis Chadwick Jr. and Belinda Chadwick of Chattanooga, Tenn.; three sisters, Desiree Chadwick, Rebecca Chadwick and Laura Chadwick, all of Chattanooga; a brother, Robert Chadwick of Greenwood; two stepsisters, Betty Dunn and Tabitha Dunn, both of Greenwood; one stepbrother, Johnny Dunn of Greenwood; his grandparents, Ray Evans and Betty Evans of Itta Bena, and James Louis Chadwick Sr. and Mary Ann Chadwick of West Helena, Ark.; and a great-grandmother, Ophelia Gregg of Itta Bena. The Rev. Dennis McKay and the Rev. Eddie Carpenter will officiate at the services. Burial will be in Providence Cemetery in Carroll County. Pallbearers will be Robbie Chadwick, Daniel Vest, Tommy Horne, James Turner, Jason Benstead, Jamie Langley, Johnny Dunn and Ricky Mann. Visitation will be from 5 until 8 this evening at the funeral home.

 

INQUIRY AT FACTORY AFTER WORKER DIES 
BY JONATHAN SMART
An inquest was opening today into the death of an engineer who was electrocuted at a Notts factory. Brian Pemberton died at Carnaudmetalbox Aerosols in Oddicroft Lane, Sutton-in-Ashfield, on Monday morning. Mr Pemberton, 42, of Henning Lane, Sutton, was found by colleagues after collapsing next to a metal cabinet in a factory workshop. He was pronounced dead at the scene by doctors. The factory was closed for two days while officials from the Health and Safety Executive inspected the site. It reopened on Wednesday. A spokesman for the HSE said: “Two inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive have visited the factory and a full investigation is under way. “At the moment, we are gathering information about the incident before we decide what steps to take next. “The investigation will be carried out to establish exactly how the accident happened and also if the company has safe working practices in place. “It appears the man died after suffering an electric shock but we have no other details about this incident.” Rebecca Dack, sales manager at Carnaudmetalbox, said: “There was a tragic incident on Monday morning at our plant in Sutton-in-Ashfield which resulted in the death of a member of our engineering staff. “We are co-operating fully with the authorities to ensure we find out exactly what happened. “At present, we are focusing our efforts on supporting the investigation and we will give out further details when we are in a position to do so. “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family concerned.” The inquest was due to open today at the Civic Centre in Mansfield.

 

Explosion kills nine in Pakistan
Pakistani officials say nine construction workers have died in an accident in Rawalpindi. Eye-witnesses say builders were working on a roof when a metal rod touched a high tension power cable. This caused a powerful explosion, which killed nine of the workers instantly; three others are being treated in hospital. A BBC correspondent in Pakistan says the incident is likely to trigger fresh debate over inadequate industrial safety legislation in the country.

 

State investigating death at fabric mill; Maintenance worker was electrocuted while working on machine
GREG LACOUR, Staff Writer
MORGANTON – The N.C. Labor Department is investigating the electrocution of a maintenance worker Monday at Viscotec Automotive Products LLC, a 2-month-old textile mill. Douglas Hoover, 46, of Rutherford College was electrocuted around 11:30 a.m. while he replaced a gear inside a machine used to make fabrics for car interiors, said Department of Public Safety Sgt. Gary Massey. Three of Hoover’s co-workers performed CPR, and officers and emergency workers arrived within minutes; paramedics tried to revive him with a defibrillator, Massey said. But Hoover was pronounced dead at Grace Hospital at 12:19 p.m. “It’s terrible,” said Bill Mason, a product director at the plant. “I tell you, it’s like a member of your family passed away.” Public Safety closed its investigation Tuesday without filing charges and ruled the death accidental, Massey said. But the Department of Labor sent investigators Tuesday to Viscotec to examine “what maintenance procedures they have to ensure equipment is safe before workers begin working on it,” said department spokesman Juan Santos. Such investigations are standard when a worker dies in an industrial accident and usually take about two weeks, Santos said. If it finds the company used improper procedures, the department could issue a citation, which carries a maximum $7,000 fine, and force the company to fix the problem. Mason wouldn’t specify Tuesday what piece of equipment Hoover was working on or how it works, saying that information is exclusive to Viscotec. He did say Hoover was part of a three-worker staff responsible for the upkeep of equipment. “Mr. Hoover was a very unique individual, a very helpful person. I don’t know if I could say enough good things about this gentleman,” Mason said. “He was friendly, easygoing, willing to do anything for anybody. … He performed his job duties above expectations. “We’re grieving over it, too,” he said, choking up. “Our hearts go out to his family.” Funeral arrangements were incomplete Tuesday. Viscotec management will shut the plant down temporarily to allow employees to attend services, Mason said. Viscotec, owned by Seiren Co. Ltd. of Fukui, Japan, manufactures car-seat fabric, particularly for Japanese car companies with plants in the South. Viscotec is Seiren’s only automotive-fabric plant in the United States. Morganton officials, hit several times in recent months by closings and layoffs at textile mills, were thrilled at Viscotec’s grand opening in late July. The plant, which occupies a former soft-drink distribution center on East Union Street, employs about 65 and eventually will employ about 250, Mason said.

 

YMCA volunteer accidentally electrocuted in Panhandle 
Associated Press 
FORT WALTON BEACH — An ungrounded electrical source, possibly a loose wire, electrocuted a YMCA volunteer while he apparently was making repairs, authorities say. Richard Byers, a retired military man from Fort Walton Beach, was electrocuted Sunday after entering the small building behind the YMCA, said Dr. Michael Berkland, an associate district medical examiner. Investigators determined “a wire that had come loose or something” that created the ungrounded electrical source, Berkland said Monday. “It was an accident waiting to happen.” Berkland arrived shortly after paramedics and Byers was taken to the emergency room at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center only a few yards from the YMCA. The call was for a possible cardiac arrest, but Berkland said he suspected the possibility of electrocution and ordered everyone from the building until after an electrician had gone through it. The electrician found the ungrounded source, helping confirm it was an electrocution, Berkland said.

 

Welder at quarry likely electrocuted
Mine inspectors are investigating the death of the 43-year-old man at Plaza Materials in Zephyrhills. 
By MOLLY MOORHEAD, St. Petersburg Times
ZEPHYRHILLS — A welder at a Zephyrhills quarry died about 7 p.m. Monday, apparently the victim of electrocution, authorities said. Leon R. Davison, 43, of 2625 Corvilla Drive in Zephyrhills was working on a 20-foot-high platform at Plaza Materials, south of Chancey Road, when co-workers saw sparks fly and heard Davison call out one of their names, according to Pasco County Sheriff’s Office reports. Davison’s stepfather, Robert Weber of Cape Vincent, N.Y., described Davison as a single father whose life revolved around his 14-year-old daughter, Michelle Lee. “He was pretty wrapped up in his daughter and his job,” Weber said Tuesday. Lane Lohmayer, another worker at the quarry, and Donald Thomas, the night shift supervisor, told officials they went to the conveyor belt where Davison had been working Monday evening and found him lying on his back with welding equipment against his chest. Lohmayer told deputies he pulled the equipment away from Davison and found a faint pulse. Lohmayer told authorities that he wnt to call 911, and Thomas remained with Davison, but when he returned, Davison had no pulse. Davison was pronounced dead by paramedics at 7:07 p.m. at the scene. According to the reports, he had two burn marks, one on his chest and one on his back. The burn on Davison’s chest matched a metal strap attached to the metal he was lying on, the reports said. He was apparently electrocuted while lying on the decking, the report said. Leroy Ford, a mine inspector with the Mine Safety and Health Administration, went to the scene Monday night. He said the agency, which has jurisdiction because Plaza Materials operates a quarry, is continuing to investigate. Ford said a team of investigators has been brought in from out of state. General manager Dain Williams of Plaza Materials, located at 41150 Yonkers Blvd., declined to comment. Davison moved to Zephyrhills about three years ago from upstate New York, where he grew up. His stepfather said he came to Florida for the mild winters and better job market. Weber said Michelle called Monday night with the news of her father’s death. “Michelle is pretty broke up,” Weber said. “She’s taking it pretty hard. She’s going to miss her father.” Weber said Michelle is now staying at her mother’s in Zephyrhills. In addition to his daughter, Davison is survived by his mother, Alberta Weber, and a sister, Valerie Claflin, 41, of Black River, N.Y. The Webers, who live in Clearwater during the winters, last saw Davison in April before they returned to New York for the summer.

 

Nine workers electrocuted at construction site in Islamabad 
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Nine laborers were electrocuted Tuesday after they brushed up against exposed high tension wire while working at a construction site, police said. At least three others were seriously injured when the electrical wires short-circuited, causing a fire to spread through the Islamabad work site. Firefighters and medics combed through the building’s wreckage hours after the fire in search of other bodies, but did not expect the death toll to rise.

 

Worker electrocuted at Jehovah hall in Southwest Ranches
By JOAN QUIGLEY
A 70-year-old man was in stable condition Tuesday after being electrocuted in Southwest Ranches. At approximately 11:20 a.m., Joseph Backloupe was working on a maintenance project at the Jehovah’s Witness Hall, located at 20850 Griffin Rd. Backloupe, the assistant manager at the hall, was working with two other volunteers. It was unclear what they were doing at the time, but something caused Backloupe to suffer an electrical charge. ”They came running in here and said call 911,” said Peg Herron, a receptionist. Backloupe was in stable condition and was taken to the Cleveland Clinic for treatment, according to Broward County Fire Rescue spokesman Todd LeDuc.

 

Resident shocked to hit power line
By Edward Levenson, Staff Writer
A Buckingham man was digging a hole when he struck a 19,000-volt electric cable. BUCKINGHAM – Tom Schuster didn’t realize the danger when he heaved a 5-foot-long steel bar into a fence post hole to break up rocks. “I heard a pop like a cherry bomb or a large firecracker,” said Schuster, 44. “I was sprayed in the face with dirt. I grabbed the bar and went back.” Smoke poured out of the hole. Shaken but unhurt, Schuster did not know he had narrowly escaped electrocution. The bar had punctured a 19,000-volt underground electrical cable serving the Hearthstone development off of Cold Spring Creamery Road. The break knocked out power to more than 300 homes in the vicinity, Peco Energy Co. officials later told Schuster and his wife, Judy. The Schusters said they knew their Bridle Court home, which they bought new nine years ago, is served by an underground electric line, but they had no idea the main power cable runs beneath the front lawn. A natural gas pipeline also is below ground. “It’s so scary to think you can die if you dig in your front lawn,” Judy said. While underground electric and telephone lines are more common in newer developments, sewer, gas, and water lines are buried in older neighborhoods as well. The Schusters say Peco should do a better job of alerting people of the requirement to call the toll-free Pennsylvania One Call System notification number before doing any digging, no matter how minor. They suggested the utility use clearer wording in an annual notice it sends with bills and possibly enclose a sticker or a refrigerator magnet giving the number. “People don’t know. It’s frustrating,” said Tom, adding that Peco intends to bill him for damages, which could run into the thousands of dollars. Peco spokeswoman Cathy Engel said the company will consider the Schusters’ suggestions to improve awareness of the statewide notification network. A private citizen or a contractor planning to dig is required to call the toll-free number (1-800-242-1776) at least three working days in advance. The system will notify all utilities that have buried lines at that location, possibly including electric, natural gas, telephone, cable, petroleum, water and sewer. Utility workers will come out and mark the path of the lines or mains. “They should always call,” Engel said. “It’s just better to be safe, especially when the alternative is dangerous.” Tom said he never expected he would hit a power line while putting in a decorative white wooden fence on the front lawn on Labor Day morning. He dug the first hole about 30 inches deep and 18 inches from the sidewalk toward the house. He was digging the second hole when the bar severed the cable. “I was very lucky,” said Tom, who believes he briefly let go of the rod just before it hit the cable. He later underwent testing at Doylestown Hospital, which found no ill effects other than a minor muscle pull. After Peco marked the underground electric and gas lines, Schuster relocated the fence another 18 inches farther in from the sidewalk. While Peco will bill them for the cost of the repairs, according to the Schusters, their homeowner’s insurance may cover the claim. Engel said she couldn’t discuss the specific claim, but said generally the utility seeks reimbursement for damage, even if accidental. Bill Balin, manager of education for Pennsylvania One Call, said the law establishing the system makes the digger liable for repairs if the person did not call the number to have the lines marked. He said homeowners should call three to 10 working days in advance so the utilities have time to respond. Once the lines are marked, the person has an indefinite period to complete the project, such as planting a tree. If the resident has to dig somewhere else on the property in the future, the law requires another notification call. Balin said this is a good idea in any event because the markings, which typically are spray paint or lawn flags, can be obliterated or the lines can shift slightly due to earth movement. Engel pointed out Tom Schuster narrowly escaped serious injury or death. “Someone was watching over him that day,” she said.

 

Farmer burned by 7,200 volts; Tractor collides with utility pole wire in Wantage 
By J.G. WALLACE, Herald Staff Writer
WANTAGE — A township farmer is lucky to be alive after a collision with a utility pole support wire resulted in a 7,200-volt jolt of electricity. John Swarts was harvesting feed corn in a 10-acre field along Dyer Road at about 10:45 a.m. Saturday when his tractor collided with and snagged a support wire on a nearby electrical pole. The incident snapped the pole near the top, and left a transformer dangling. An electrical wire dropped across a rear light on Swart’s 1979 Ford tractor and instantly exploded all of the lights on the tractor. A shower of sparks rained down, and a loud sparking sound could be heard, according to neighbors. Swarts went to jump clear, with both the tractor and corn harvester still running, and he came in contact with the wire. He was thrown clear of the tractor by the shock, according to his son, Shane, who was nearby when the accident occurred. Shane Swarts said he called 911, and ran up the street to find his father staggering and dazed. Swarts was burned on both hands, where the vltage entered and exited his body. The shock also touched off fires in the front wheel of the tractor, and the rear wheel of the wagon being towed. A grass fire broke out, and fire crews were initially unable to take action as the pole was still electrified. With the tractor and harvester motors running, rescue workers waited patiently for Sussex Rural Electric crews to bypass the pole. The blaze was extinguished with fire extinguishers after the power was switched off. Members of the Beemerville, Colesville, and Sussex fire departments responded to the scene, as did the Wantage Rescue Squad.Swarts was treated at the scene for his burns, and later was taken to Saint Clare’s Hospital in Sussex Borough by a family member for further examinations. Wantage Fire Chief Parker Space said that due to the New Jersey State Firemen’s Convention in Wildwood this weekend, Sussex and Wantage fire companies have been responding jointly to calls.  “A lot of the guys are down there, so we’re working with a combined response,” Space said. He said Swarts was very lucky to have survived the incident.“He should play the lottery today,” Space said Saturday. Swarts said Sunday he was fine. “It was only 7,200 volts,” he said. Swarts said after the collision, he stepped out and grabbed the electrical wire, thinking it was the support wire. “I was lucky it threw me,” he said. The resulting brush fire caused a column of smoke about 200 feet high, and drew neighbors to the scene. Electrical service was briefly interrupted in the Dyer and Holland Road area. Shane Swarts, 18, a college student, said every time the wind shifted the live wire and it made contact with the tractor cab, the entire cab glowed. The younger Swarts said he was optimistic that the tractor and equipment was not heavily damaged. “We’re all set to pull it out and change the tires,” he said shortly after the incident. He was hopeful Saturday that he and a cousin could resume cutting silage. Shane Swarts said his father initially did not want to go to the hospital after the accident because he was eager to resume the job. “That’s the way we all are,” he said. “It has to get done.”

 

Explosion knocks out power in Squirrel Hill 
By Marylynne Pitz, Post-Gazette Staff Writer 
A pre-dawn explosion blew the cover off a manhole in the Squirrel Hill business district today, leaving 300 residential and business customers without power. “We’re not sure what the cause of it was, but it may have been that moisture came into contact with some wires,” said Joe Balaban, a Duquesne Light spokesman who was outside an optical shop in the 5800 block of Forbes Avenue. A utility crew that arrived at 4:30 a.m. pumped water out of the sewer, which contains a 4,000-volt line that feeds three transformers between Shady and Murray avenues. Duquesne Light hopes to restore electricity to all customers by 6 p.m., Balaban said. The manhole cover crashed into the picture window of Dalmo Optical. A display inside the store was not damaged. “The display is still standing upright,” Balaban said. While the three transformers were not affected, the explosion damaged some of the lines that feed electricity to them, Balaban said. “We’re in the process of making this area safe so the crews can go down there and make their repairs. Fortunately, the man hole is within two feet of the curb. There must be a half dozen trucks out here right now.” Stop lights at the intersections of Forbes and Murray and Forbes and Shady were not working because of the outage. Today, the utility crew will go through an underground network and replace some wires that burned during the explosion.

 

Electrician airlifted after drill touches live wire
By Carolyn Millet
ANOTHER Inverell man has suffered an electric shock, the second in the space of three weeks. Stieger Electronics worker Stewart Hill, 41, was putting in a TV outlet in the ceiling of a Sequoia Place home on Tuesday morning when his drill struck a 240 volt electrical cable. He lost consciousness and suffered burns in the accident, and was airlifted for specialist treatment to Tamworth Base Hospital, where local shock victim Peter Enersen was also recovering. Mr Hill’s accident occurred at a little after 10am. When the Inverell ambulance service reached him, he was still unconscious. The police, Volunteer Rescue Association and Country Energy also attended the scene, and the VRA removed Mr Hill from the ceiling. He was stabilised by Advanced Life Support ambulance officers, who monitored his heart rhythms and gave him oxygen and IV fluids. Mr Hill suffered burns to his hands and wrists, and was taken to Inverell District Hospital at 11.15am. At 4 o’clock that afternoon the Westpac Rescue Helicopter transported him to Tamworth Base Hospital for further treatment. An Inverell ambulance spokesperson said all the emergency services personnel worked well together during the rescue. Inverell builder Peter Enersen was working at a building site on the Nullamanna Road on August 23, when the wind blew the tin sheeting he was holding into a 12,500 volt overhead power line. He sustained burns to his hands and right leg and was taken to Tamworth Base Hospital that day. 

Man in hospital after powerlines accident
A man remains in a serious condition in a Brisbane hospital after coming into contact with powerlines near Mungindi, north of Moree, yesterday afternoon. The man, aged 50, and a resident of Mungindi, were unloading cattle from a double-deck cattle float on a property 60 kilometres south-west of Mungindi. While standing on the top of the top deck, he came into contact with the overhead wires and then fell into the floor of the truck. He suffered severe burns to his back and feet. He was rushed to Mungindi Hospital and then transferred to Brisbane by air ambulance.

 

Worker Electrocuted Outside Courthouse
A 41-year-old Berkley man was electrocuted Monday while working outside of the Oakland County courthouse in Pontiac. The worker was part of a two-man crew that was performing maintenance on a pole on the south side of the building. His partner was in a basket attending to a light while he was on the ground examining wiring inside the base of the pole. Police said that the victim touched wires inside the base of the pole that sent 460 volts of electricity into his body. Capt. Bill McCabe said that the worker had tools in one hand and was stuck to the wiring with the other, because of the surging electric current. McCabe said that his partner had to use their work truck to knock the victim away from the pole. Deputies in the courthouse nearby came to the worker’s aid immediately, Local 4 reported. They performed CPR and an automated external defibrillators in attempting to revive him until paramedics could get him to a hospital. But he died. The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( news – web sites) is investigating.

 

Four GRU workers injured in the electrical explosion.
By KATHY CIOTOLASun staff writer
One Gainesville Regional Utilities worker was critically injured Tuesday night when he was working on a utility box, authorities said. Three other workers also were injured. The employees were replacing a transformer in the 2500 block of NW 41st Street about 9 p.m. when one worker came in contact with a live wire, GRU spokesman Dan Jesse said. One man received severe burns and was taken to Shands at the University of Florida in critical condition, Gainesville Fire Rescue spokesman Stuart Schwartz said. Two others received flash burns to their eyes, and the other was evaluated because he was close to the electrical explosion, Schwartz said. Authorities didn’t want to release the workers’ names until their families were notified. Diane Evanac of Gainesville was driving by when she saw the explosion. “I saw what looked like a fireworks explosion with flames and sparks and two men running away,” Evanac said. “The two men came back and I called GRU and police.” The incident caused a power outage to about 150 people in the area, Jesse said. Another 1,100 may have noticed a quick interruption in their electricity. Officials weren’t able to determine what caused the accident late Tuesday night but said the investigation was continuing.

UPDATE, Phone company fined for worker’s electrocution 
ASSOCIATED PRESS September 9, 2002 
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Federal regulators on Monday proposed fines totaling $55,500 against Verizon for numerous safety infractions that led to the electrocution of a telephone lineman in March. Among other violations, the telephone company failed to ensure that employees wore gloves and other personal protective equipment, said Diane Brayden, area director for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The fines resulted from an investigation into the March 11 death of lineman Jarrod Lyon, 28, of Dolgeville. Lyon was killed when a 12,500-volt power line touched a telephone cable he was repairing. OSHA proposed a penalty of $30,500 for eight alleged serious violations of federal safety standards, Brayden said. The company also was cited for a repeat violation for failing to provide personal protective equipment, protective devices and special tools needed for the work of employees. OSHA proposed a $25,000 fine for the repeat violation. The company has until Sept. 26 to contest the citations. Verizon spokesman Cliff Lee said company officials were still reviewing the proposed fines Monday, but that an appeal was likely.

 

Officials Say Church Fire Was Accident
Officials said that a church fire that destroyed classrooms and sent four firefighters to the hospital was an accident. NewsChannel5 reported that the 80-year-old First United Methodist Church in Ashland went up in flames Friday. Investigators said that the blaze ignited when a contractor accidentally knocked gutters into electrical wires. Three firefighters suffered smoke inhalation, and a fourth was hurt when the roof collapsed. Damage is estimated at $2 million to $3 million.

U.S. Gauge worker is electrocuted
By Patrick Lester, Staff Writer
After the accident, the plant’s emergency response team began performing CPR on the victim. He died at Grand View Hospital. SELLERSVILLE – A longtime U.S. Gauge employee was electrocuted while working inside the Clymer Avenue plant Thursday afternoon, a company official said. E. LeRoy Kulp, was doing maintenance work inside the plant when he was accidentally shocked, according to spokesman Jim McKinley. Medics rushed Kulp to Grand View Hospital in West Rockhill where he was pronounced dead about an hour after the 3 p.m. accident. It was the first fatal accident at the Clymer Avenue plant, a fixture in the borough for decades, according to McKinley. “The company is saddened by the loss of a colleague and extends its deepest sympathy to the Kulp family,” he said, reading from a statement issued by the firm. Kulp, who had been working as a millright in the plant’s tube mill, was a U.S. Gauge employee since at least 1963, McKinley said. U.S. Gauge, a local division of Ametek, produces components for gauges and aerospace equipment. The local plant employs about 146 people. Kulp was doing work on a maintenance belt when the accident happened. The plant’s emergency response team immediately began performing CPR on him until medical personnel arrived, McKinley said. Pennridge Regional police said Kulp was alive when medics arrived, but released few other details on the accident Thursday. McKinley said members of the company’s employee assistance program would be made available to Kulp’s family today. “They will be on site at Sellersville (today) to help other colleagues deal with the after effects of this tragic accident,” he said. The cause of the accident is under investigation. Pennridge Regional police are investigating. “There will be an investigation, certainly, by us,” McKinley said. 

UPDATE, N.S. company fined $3,000 after worker touches live electrical wire
DARTMOUTH, N.S. (CP) — A Dartmouth company has been fined $3,000 after an employee came in contact with a live wire on a job site. Bell Electric pleaded guilty Thursday to one charge under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. The man, who was employed by a sub-contractor at the time of the August 2001 incident, sustained burns to his left hand and injuries to his neck and shoulder after he was shocked and fell unconscious. A second charge was dismissed after the Crown called no evidence. The court was told the worker wasn’t informed about an uninsulated, energized wire before the mishap occurred. The man spent four days in hospital.

 

Michelin employee injured by high voltage 
Canadian Press 
BRIDGEWATER, N.S. (CP) – A man who was injured in an industrial accident at a plant in Bridgewater was listed in good condition Tuesday. Robert Fralick, a worker at the Michelin tire plant, was doing maintenance at an electrical substation Monday when he came into contact with high voltage. He was taken to a Halifax hospital, where his condition improved. The provincial Labour Department was investigating. 

Georgia Industrial Fire Contained Quickly
There was plenty of smoke but little damage from a fire Tuesday (9/3/2002) at Chemical Products Corp. on Old Mill Road in Cartersville. The fire was contained 45 minutes after it started with only minor damage to the building, according to CPC Technical Director Jerry Cook. The fire began when a worker switched on a breaker around 3 p.m., generating a spark that ignited a powder stored and processed in the building, Cook said. The fire sent billows of smoke into the air above it. The powder, stored in bags, is processed at the building into a slurry that is used in making paper, Cook said. The slurry is then sold to companies who use it as a catalyst in making paper. The fire started in the control center and ignited several bags of the powder. The result was a thick cloud of smoke that hovered over the building for the rest of the afternoon. Three fire engines from the Bartow County Fire Dept. responded and began dousing the fire.

 

UPDATE, Damaged cables caused manhole explosion
by TOM STEINFELDT, Journal staff writer
A manhole explosion Tuesday in Arlington was caused by underground cables damaged several months ago, investigators concluded. Dominion Virginia Power determined that debris remaining from the installation of a duct bank used to run cable to a new building more than likely sliced the wires and led to the explosion. A laborer for electric subcontractor D.A. Foster Co. was in the manhole at Washington Boulevard and 10th Street when the cable sparked and a plume of smoke burst from the ground. Roughly 4,000 Dominion customers lost power, and most traffic lights in the county’s Clarendon and Courthouse areas were out for three hours. The worker climbed out of the manhole and was taken to Virginia Hospital Center. He was treated for smoke inhalation and burns near one ear and released that afternoon. It is common for damaged wires to take several months to short out, Dominion spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson said Friday: “It just depends on what type of contaminants get into the wires.” Water and dirt typically affect damaged underground wires, which are buried three feet below ground. Investigators ruled with reasonable certainty that concrete knocked down to install the duct bank cut the encased cable that failed, triggering the explosion, Anderson said. The injured worker was removing the concrete. “And that was the popping sound that people heard,” she said of the spark. A second explosion about 50 minutes after the first was caused when a breaker was closed to reroute electricity to customers. The concrete windows are designed to be removed to wire new developments. The duct bank was installed several months ago to provide electrical wires for the nearby Jefferson at Clarendon Centre apartment building that is under construction. The date the work was performed was not available Friday. Paradigm Construction Co., the building’s developer, hired a subcontractor to do the duct work. Paradigm officials did not return calls seeking comment. “My concern is why did it happen and could it have been prevented,” said Pat Maloy, who works a few blocks from the manhole at Bargain Buggies Rent-A-Car. Traffic tie-ups and other hassles like Tuesday’s power outage that occur near construction sites have a negative impact on businesses and residents, he said. “We all suffer when this happens,” he said. The explosion likely would have occurred regardless of the work being done in the manhole, Anderson said. “It was a coincidence, basically,” she said. “Underground cable fails periodically. It’s dirty underground, and any time you get dirt or anything on the cable it can fail.” Given the extent of the minor flash burns near the injured worker’s ear, the explosion likely would not have been powerful enough to propel the manhole cover into the air if it had been on, Anderson said. A hairline splice can cause cable failure, and Dominion has no way of knowing when it will happen, Anderson said. “It wasn’t something we could have prevented,” she said.

 

UPDATE, Utility Worker’s Death a Reminder of Danger 
By ERIC PERA, The Ledger 
LAKELAND — Marc Moore, the Lakeland Electric employee killed Monday, was the fourth city worker in more than 20 years to die doing a dangerous job. Moore, 31, a special equipment operator, was electrocuted while helping to install a 40-foot wooden power pole at an East Lakeland mobile home park. Four other workers were injured when the metal arm of the boom Moore was operating touched a primary electric line, charging the rain-soaked ground with between 7,200 and 13,000 volts. Three of the four workers left Lakeland Regional Medical Center on Tuesday after being treated for minor injuries, and the fourth was expected to follow, a Lakeland spokesman said. The accident left the approximately 800-member electric utility mourning a young father of two who had worked for the city for eight years. As a special equipment operator, Moore was paid $19.74 an hour, or approximately $41,000 a year. Linemen can earn more than $50,000 a year. “It’s hazardous work. Workers are usually highly paid when there is substantial risk,” said Bob Siegel, Lakeland Electric director until he retired in 2000. Two workers were electrocuted during Siegel’s tenure. On June 12, 1992, James Lynch, 28, of Longwood, an electrician with a Jacksonville contractor, died after touching a 277-volt wire at the city’s McIntosh Plant. He was on a hydraulic lift. A pair of plastic, insulated pliers were in his left hand, but he was not wearing protective gloves. On Dec. 5, 1990, lineman James Tymchuk, 25, of Mulberry, was in a cherry picker when he simultaneously touched a 7,200-volt power line and the controls of his bucket, which was also touching the wire. He’d taken off insulated gloves and put on a pair of leather gloves. After filing a wrongful death suit, Tymchuk’s widow reached a $2.06 million settlement with the maker of the bucket truck, claiming the controls weren’t insulated. The fourth death occurred Jan. 18, 1980, when Thomas Stovall, a tree trimmer with Lakeland Electric, was electrocuted. Siegel said the public tends to overlook the sacrifice of the people who risk their lives to keep the lights on. “When there’s a big storm . . .those folks are out there. They give their all,” he said. The city’s risk management safety team is expected to issue a report on Moore’s death within the week, city spokesman Kevin Cook said. Polk sheriff’s investigators also are looking into the incident that occurred Monday afternoon at Citrus Woods Mobile Home Park off Reynolds Road. The five-man crew was using a boom, a piece of equipment similar to a crane, to drive a utility pole into the ground and replace a damaged pole, said Sheriff’s Capt. W.J. Martin. Insulated sleeves and blankets were draped over the poles and lines to protect the workers from a shock, Martin said. But the workers removed the protective devices when they figured there was enough space between the two poles. “They miscalculated,” Martin said. “They thought they had created enough of a gap between the two poles.” A piece of metal equipment at the end of the boom hit a live wire where the sleeves had been, Martin said. The electricity traveled through the boom into the ground and shocked the five workers standing several feet from the boom, Martin said. Martin said it was unclear where Moore was standing or if he was touching the boom. Cook declined to comment on the Sheriff’s Office findings. Moore moved to rural Kathleen about five years ago and began building on several acres on Paul Brown Road near the Hillsborough County line, according to neighbors. While working on the home, Moore, his wife, and two young sons lived in a yellow mobile home next to the house under construction, said his neighbor, Doretta Boulac. “They were halfway through with building that house,” Boulac said. “They had just gotten married when they moved up here.” A visitor Tuesday could see two horses, two goats, a pond at the front of the property and an American flag next to the family’s home. Boulac said Moore’s wife often rode one of the horses. The property is surrounded by a fence with a gate at the front of the dirt driveway posted with a “beware of dog” sign and a sign with a picture of a handgun that read, “we don’t dial 911.” On the gate was a yellow sign, showing three children riding on horses, that read, “Lil Buckaroos at play.”

 

Explosion At Plant In Kansas Injures Three
Three people were injured, one critically, after an explosion and fire at an agricultural machinery plant in Hesston, Kansas. The explosion occurred around 9 a.m. yesterday in an electrical room at the Agco plant, according to Hesston police. One employee was critically burned in the fire that resulted from the explosion and was life-flighted to an area hospital. Two other employees suffered minor injuries. One of the employees was taken by ambulance to the hospital and the other was treated at the scene. Authorities say the cause of the explosion is under investigation, but they do not suspect foul play. The plant suffered minor damage, police said.

 

Electric Worker Killed in Accident, Four others in crew hurt when boom hits line. 
By RICK ROUSOS & JOHN CHAMBLISS, The Ledger 
LAKELAND — A Lakeland Electric worker was electrocuted and four other linemen were injured Monday in an accident off Reynolds Road east of Lakeland. Marcus Moore, 31, of 5235 Paul Brown Road in Kathleen, was killed about 1:30 p.m. while working at Citrus Woods Mobile Home Park, 1610 Reynolds Road between lots 335 and 336. The four injured linemen were in good condition at Lakeland Regional Medical Center on Monday night, a nursing supervisor said. They were listed by co-workers as Chris Anderson, Mark Harrison, Mike Sims and Guy Schatzman. The accident occurred while the men were using a boom, which utility officials describe as similar to a crane, to drive a utility pole into the ground to repair damage done by an earlier storm. A metal piece of equipment at the end of the boom hit a primary electric line, officials said. The line carried between 7,200 and 13,000 volts, said Keith Hulbert, the general manager of Lakeland Electric. The electricity traveled through the boom into the ground and shocked the workers. It was unclear where Moore was standing when he was shocked or if he was touching the boom, but the wet ground made the situation worse because it acted as a conductor, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers. The four Lakeland Electric employees who survived were standing on the ground near the pole when they were shocked, Rodgers said. Rodgers said a line never snapped or fell to the ground. About 50 workers and family members who crowded an LRMC waiting room Monday mourned Moore’s death as they waited for word on the four injured workers. Co-workers said Moore had a wife and a couple of young children. He was described by his supervisor, Gerald Holbrook, as a man’s man with a good heart. “He was a big, strong, powerful man, but he was real gentle,” Holbrook said. “He had a great sense of humor” and loved to hunt. Gilbert McKee, 43, a lineman who was shocked and burned while placing an insulator on a power line in 2000, said he used to playfully wrestle with Moore. “We were both big guys,” McKee said. “He was a big teddy bear.” McKee, who learned of Moore’s death through a co-worker, said Moore was about 6 feet tall and weighed about 270 pounds. McKee said he would miss his co-worker of at least 10 years. “We worked side by side,” McKee said. “We all look out for each other here.” Hulbert said the details of the accident are sketchy because the five-member crew was working alone. He said more should be known within the next few days. “Our hearts go out to the family members, friends and co-workers,” Hulbert said. “We’re going to do all we can to help them through this time of tragedy.” The past two years, Lakeland Electric received a first-place award for compiling an outstanding safety record from the Florida Municipal Electric Association.

 

One electrocuted, three injured 
By Indo-Asian News Service 
New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) A construction worker died and three others sustained serious burns when they came in contact with a live wire Sunday evening. Police said the accident occurred at a factory in Okhla in south Delhi when the iron rods being carried by a construction worker brushed an overhead high-tension wire. He received a severe electric shock and the others who ran to save him also got electrocuted in the bargain. “All four were rushed to the burns ward of the Safdarjung hospital (in south Delhi). One of the workers Alauddin succumbed to his injuries, while three others are still in the hospital,” a police officer told IANS. The injured workers have been identified as Mohammad Akhtar, Mathur Mandal and Bharat Mandal. All of them live in a shantytown in Okhla.

 

Firefighter injured by an electric shock in Lawrence 
by Franci Richardson 
A Lawrence firefighter helping the arson team investigate yesterday’s early-morning fire at a storefront under a boarding house was taken to the hospital after suffering an electrical shock. Fire Lt. Edward Murphy was taken to Lawrence General Hospital after receiving a shock from a live wire, but was discharged hours later, according to acting Deputy Gary Morin. “He’s OK,” Morin said. The two-alarm blaze, reported about 12:56 a.m., forced the evacuation of several people from the upper floors of the Lowell Street boarding house. There were no rescues, but fire officials did help residents get out of the building. Murphy was injured after the fire was snuffed out. “I believe he was on the external part of building when they were running electrical lines to aid the arson investigation,” Morin said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

 

Downtown transformer blows; hundreds evacuated 
By LEIGH HOPPER, Houston Chronicle 
Hundreds of downtown employees from the Houston Police Department, Waste Management, JP Morgan Chase and other companies evacuated their offices this morning after a power surge blew transformers in three different buildings. The incident disrupted workers and traffic in a six-block area that included buildings at 1111 Fannin, 1021 Main and Houston Police Headquarters at 1111 Bell. Fires emitting thick smoke were quickly extinguished, and power was restored by 10:15 a.m., allowing business to return to normal, said Houston Fire Department spokesman Jay Evans. There were no injuries, but one woman was treated for high blood pressure at the scene. Evans did not know if downtown construction was responsible for the disruption. He said Reliant Energy is investigating the incident and would have an explanation by the afternoon. Evans said the chain reaction started about 8:30 a.m., when workers on the 17th floor of the Howell Building at 1111 Fannin noticed their computer screens flicker. A transformer caught fire and exploded. As firefighters responded, the same thing happened at the police building on Bell. However, smoke from a burning transformer went out a louvered window and did not fill the building. Then the transformer at 1021 Main began to smoke. Employees had to leave by way of darkened stairways, evoking memories of last year’s attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, said Evans. “Everybody was quite upset,” he said.

 

Fire at Bloomberg Site; Worker injured, traffic snarled around future HQ
By Melanie Lefkowitz, Wil Cruz and Pete Bowles, STAFF WRITERS
A worker cleaning around a transformer was burned yesterday when an electrical fire erupted at the construction site of the future headquarters of Bloomberg LP, sending heavy black smoke into a busy midtown neighborhood, authorities said. The subcontractor for Con Edison, whose name was not released, was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Weill Cornell Center, where he was listed in stable condition. A firefighter also was taken to the hospital for treatment of respiratory problems, Joseph Cestari, a Fire Department spokesman, said. Two Con Edison workers were treated at the scene for minor injuries. Fire officials said the blaze, which set off a series of blasts, broke out at 1 p.m. in an electrical vault in the basement of the building on 58th Street between Third and Lexington avenues, where several stories of the headquarters are being constructed. The cause of the fire still was under investigation last night, Cestari said. Tom Gavaghen, 39, an ironworker from Freehold, N.J., said he saw the subcontractor handling two live wires near the transformer. Gavaghen said he saw sparks, saw the man drop the wires, heard a series of blasts that rocked the building and then saw flames shooting out of the vault. “I was surprised initially, then concerned,” he said. “There was somebody in there, and I couldn’t see him anymore. I didn’t think he was going to get out.” Workers said the injured man either fell or was thrown about 6 feet into a lower level. “It was just a loud boom, but then it popped,” said John Morena, 57, an electrician from Freehold. The injured man “was in shock,” Morena said. “He was burned on his arms and badly shaken up. I was concerned that everyone got out OK. It could have been worse.” Streets around the site, just across from Bloomingdales, were blocked off for several hours until the smoke cleared. Police reported massive traffic jams. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who founded the financial information company, no longer is involved in its daily operations. “It’s very tragic,” he said at a City Hall news conference. Chris Olert, a Con Edison spokesman, said there were no electrical outages associated with the fire. 

UPDATE, Worker injured in electrical accident dies
By NICOLA M. WHITE
WALLINGTON – A Parmalat factory worker died Monday after coming in contact with a 600-volt electric wire on the job earlier this month. Benjamin Minguito, 44, of Kearny worked the night shift at the dairy factory as a boiler repair and maintenance mechanic. Early Aug. 3, Minguito was changing blown fuses. “When he tried to put the third one in, it blew up,” said Sapri Issaof Paterson, who also works nights at the factory. “There was an explosion – oh, my God, it was big. The whole area was shot like a fire or something. I ran away. I looked to my back, I looked to Benny. The guy started crying, screaming.”Issa escaped with a burned hand.Minguito, a married father of three, suffered second- and third-degree burns on 40 percent to 50 percent of his body, said Police Director Anthony Benevento. His hands, forearms, face, neck, and upper torso were burned. His shirt went up in flames, as did the front of his trouser legs.Parmalat, a French dairy products company, one of the largest employers in town, is investigating Minguito’s death. “Parmalat places the utmost importance on employee safety and all of its employees are committed to preventing injuries in the workplace,” the company said in a statement. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death, as it does when anyone dies because of a work-related injury. Parmalat, which bought the old Farmland Dairies factory two years ago, has no history of OSHA investigations at its Wallington site. Farmland Dairies, however, was slapped with tens of thousands of dollars in fines for multiple workplace violations. In records that go back to 1975, no on-the-job deaths are recorded. “People coming in contact with a live electrical part is one of the more common ways of getting injured, not so much in a factory, but especially on a construction site,” said Steve Kaplan, assistant area director of OSHA’s regional office in Rochelle Park. “It doesn’t happen every day, thank goodness.” Minguito had been employed at Parmalat since March 2000. His three children are 26, 23, and 15.

Electrical burns injure road crew worker
Cement truck hits line, absorbing 7,400 volts in Commerce
By Mike Martindale / The Detroit News
COMMERCE TOWNSHIP — A 27-year-old worker is hospitalized in serious condition with burns after a Tuesday construction accident in which a cement truck he was working on came in contact with high-voltage electrical lines. The man, identified only as a Roma, Texas, resident pending family notification, was reportedly in the burn unit of Detroit Receiving Hospital after the accident on Maple Road near Williams International Corp. Lt. Denny Davis of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department substation in Commerce Township said the man was part of a crew working on improvements to Maple between Haggerty and Welch about 8:30 a.m. “He was outside a cement truck that was dumping a load when part of the truck hit an overhead line with its bucket and about 7,400 volts went through the truck,” Davis said. “He was touching the side of the truck, possibly some controls, at the time.” The truck’s driver, inside the vehicle, was not harmed in the incident, Davis said. “The line surged and, like a circuit breaker, went dead after the contact,” he said. “The driver somehow must not have been touching any metal part of the truck at the time.” It was unclear if the workers either failed to see or misjudged the height of the wires. Commerce Township paramedics provided first aid, and the man was taken to Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak. He was transferred to Detroit Receiving Hospital in the afternoon, Beaumont spokeswoman Ilene Wolf said. The hospitalized man is employed by Tony Angelo Construction Co. of Novi. Christine Super, a financial controller for the company, said the owners of the company were busy talking with investigators on Tuesday. “We’re still trying to find out what happened,” Super said. “We are working a subcontract along the road and everything has been routine and without any accidents — until now.” As with all serious construction-type accidents, the incident remains under investigation by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Workplace accidents, often fatal, occur with disturbing frequency in Michigan. Dozens of Michigan workers each year are crushed, electrocuted, blown up, buried in cave-ins or maimed on the job. Often the deaths and injuries are because of violations of company and state safety procedures. State officials believe some, if not most, of the deadly incidents could have been prevented. 

San Manuel man killed in accident at Ray Pit 
Paul Casillas, 31, of San Manuel, died last Saturday as a result of an accident at ASARCO Ray Mines. An employee of Frontier-Kemper, Casillas was working in the tunnel area of the Ray Pit when he was apparently electrocuted. Exact details of the incident could not be confirmed as efforts to get a statement from Frontier-Kemper were unsuccessful. Frontier-Kemper is an out-side firm currently under contract to ASARCO. Pinal County Sheriff’s deputies along with Kearny Fire and Ambulance responded to the scene. Casillas was transported by helicopter to Cobre Valley Community Hospital in Globe where he was pronounced dead. No further information was available at press time.

 

HOME ELECTRICAL SAFETY, Woman killed cutting grass
A Lawrenceburg woman was killed Monday afternoon while mowing grass in Pulaski. Law enforcement officials said that Wanda Gowder, 58, a former Sun-drop employee, was cutting grass at the home of her son, Mike Gowder, at 806 Rackley Drive, when the mower she was operating came in contact with an electrical cord. Gowder was taken to Hillside Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Neal Funeral Home in Lawrenceburg is in charge of funeral arrangements, which were incomplete at press time today (Tuesday).

 

Explosion in underground electrical vault in Calgary; buildings evacuated
CALGARY (CP) — An explosion in an underground electrical vault Tuesday injured one worker and snarled traffic in downtown Calgary. The explosion happened about 2 p.m. at First Street and Fourth Avenue, across from the Westin Hotel. Three Enmax workers were in the vault at the time. One suffered flash burns, the other two and some emergency workers were treated and released for smoke inhalation, said Jason Kiriaka, spokesman for Emergency Medical Services. “It was definitely a dangerous situation. Initially when the workers were first trapped … they ran past the first exit, didn’t see it because of the smoke, then ran back and found it,” Kiriaka said. Workers in several nearby buildings were evacuated. “The concern is that when you have electrical fires there is definitely high voltage involved,” said John Conley, fire department spokesman. “But also the subsequent residual smoke that comes from the vault can be fairly toxic, so we are erring on the side of caution.” White smoke billowed from the alley where the vault was as numerous fire and police vehicles blocked downtown streets. Traffic lights were out as well. Curious business people stood on the streets wondering what happened and if they would be going back to work.

 

Man may have died of electrocution
Eagle staff report
Authorities believe a Milam County man was electrocuted Friday night as he worked on a box fan at his home. The official cause of death is pending for Kevin Dohnalik, 31, who was found shortly after 8 p.m. near a large fan he was fixing at his home in the Marak community, about 5 miles northwest of Cameron. He was taken to Central Texas Hospital in Cameron, where he was pronounced dead. Further details were not available Saturday.

 

UPDATE, Father sees son and colleague electrocuted
KAY JARDINE 
A MAN saw his son and another worker die when they were electrocuted while repairing street lighting yesterday. The men, one aged 22 and the other 32, were repairing lamp standards in Port Glasgow Road in Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire. It is understood they were electrocuted when they came into contact with an overhead power line. Strathclyde Police confirmed that the father of one of the victims was at the scene of the accident, working for the same firm of council contractors. It is understood he saw his son killed as the lamp-post, which was being removed by a lorry-mounted crane, touched the cable. Colleagues of the men, who worked for a firm sub-contracted to Renfrewshire Council, alerted the emergency services. One victim is believed to have been in the lorry while the other was maneouvring the lamp-post. Witnesses said they heard someone shout and saw a hoist holding a pole but realised there had been an accident only when police and ambulance staff attended. The men, who were not named, were both taken to Inverclyde Royal Hospital, Greenock, but were pronounced dead soon after arrival. A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said: “We are still trying to formally identify these men.” She said post-mortem examinations would be carried out. The Health and Safety Executive is carrying out an investigation. Scottish Power engineers and Strathclyde Police were also investigating. Inverclyde Council said it would co-operate with the investigation and expressed its sympathy to the families. A report will be sent to the procurator-fiscal.

 

Worker escapes crop blaze
by Jo Breach
A farm worker had a lucky escape when his combine harvester got too close to a power cable creating an arc of electricity which set fire to a field of crops. Farm worker Tim Williams was working at Locks Farm in Coldharbour Lane, Patching, near Worthing, when the accident happened just before 1pm yesterday. As the combine harvester passed underneath the power cables, sparks of electricity jumped from the cables setting fire to the crops. Other farm workers raced to see if he was hurt but he walked away uninjured. Farmer Alex Lock, who was working on a tractor nearby, said: “The power cables have always been quite low and when the combine harvester went near them it created an arc of electricity. “It set fire to the field but the biggest scare was if Tim was all right. “When I went to speak to him he said he was fine. I don’t think he realised what had happened until afterwards. “When the men realised the electricity had started a fire they immediately rang the fire brigade and moved the farm equipment out of the way.” Fire crews from East Preston, Worthing and Findon were called to tackle the blaze and were at the scene for almost two hours. A brigade spokesman said: “The man was very lucky he was not electrocuted. “It was the quick response of the first crew who arrived who limited the damage of the fire. The ground was very dry due to the hot weather. “Because it was so hot yesterday we had an ambulance on standby in case any of the fire crews suffered from heat stress and fatigue.” The farm worker was unhurt but two acres of oats were destroyed by the blaze. Seeboard engineers were at the scene yesterday afternoon. Mr Lock said: “I estimate we lost three to four tonnes of oats, which is worth a couple of hundred pounds. “I am just glad no one was hurt.”

 

Ulysses man electrocuted in farming accident 
By RAYA DYKE
A Ulyssess man was killed Monday when he was electrocuted while working on a piece of irrigation equipment. Roberto Carlos Rodriguez, 24, was electrocuted about 8 p.m. while attempting to change the direction of an irrigation sprinkler, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. Rodriguez, employed in a farming business near Moscow, was with co-workers when they noticed problems with a motor tower on an irrigator, Grant County Sheriff Lance Babcock said. “There’s a bar they hit to change the sprinkler’s direction, and he reached up to hit that bar and got electrocuted,” Babcock said. Normally, there wouldn’t be any electricity in that part of the irrigator, he said. Nevertheless, the sheriff’s offices does not expect to find any evidence of foul play, Babcock said. “I think it was just an accident,” he said. “Lightning could have struck the tower, or something like that. We just don’t know yet.” The case is under investigation.

 

Work mishaps leave one dead, one burned
BY DAVID OVALLE
One man was killed and another severely burned Wednesday in two separate construction accidents in Miami-Dade County, fire and police spokesmen said. A construction worker was killed when a construction vehicle backed into him around 8:30 a.m. near the Mall of the Americas, Miami-Dade police said. Hours later, at 6809 Biscayne Blvd., another man burned more than half of his body after touching power lines and falling 10 feet, a Miami Fire-Rescue official said. He was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where officials said he was in critical condition and undergoing surgery. The first victim, a 39-year-old whose name was not released, was marking a road and did not notice the approaching road grader, a vehicle used to scrape away pavement, detective Lupo Jimenez said. The second victim was doing roof work on a two-story flower shop when he touched some power lines. As firefighters arrived and hunted for a way to scale the walls, the man fell 10 feet to a first-story roof landing. Firefighter Christian Guzmán was on the other side of the building when he heard gasps from a crowd of onlookers. He raced around, climbed a nearby fence and pulled the man away from the edge. Rescuers used one of the man’s company lift trucks to lower him. ”The top of his body was pretty badly burned, second-degree burns,” Guzmán said. “He was semiconscious, in and out.”

 

Streetlight accident kills workmen
Two men have died after being electrocuted while working on streetlighting in the west of Scotland. The accident took place on Wednesday morning on the outskirts of Kilmacolm, Inverclyde. Electricity supplies to part of the village have been cut off as a result of the incident. A spokesperson for Inverclyde Council said the two men had been working for a private contractor employed by the local authority to replace old streetlighting. The accident happened as they removed an old light on Port Glasgow Road at about 1000 BST. It is thought that the men were electrocuted when it hit an 11,000-volt overhead cable. The men – who were aged 22 and 32 – were taken to Inverclyde Royal Hospital in Greenock, but died a short time later from their injuries. Three other men working in the area as part of the same crew were not injured. Strathclyde Police said Port Glasgow Road had been closed between Auchenbothie Gardens and Wateryetts Drive. The Health and Safety Executive has launched an investigation into the incident. 
A police spokesperson added that a report would be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

 

Construction worker electrocuted
Staff
A 31-year-old construction worker was killed Friday when he accidentally touched an electrical wire on a job in south Fulton County. The accident occurred off school property behind Bear Creek Middle School on Herndon Road near Fairburn around 10:30 a.m., said Fulton County Fire Department spokesman Reginald Smith. Danny Rowe of Bethlehem, who “was working on some electrical wires, had apparently stuck his hand in a hole and received a heavy shock,” Smith said. Rowe went into cardiac arrest, Smith said. He was revived with CPR and taken to Fayette Community Hospital in Fayetteville, where he died.

 

UPDATE, Electric Shock Kills Sound Beach Man
By Christine Buurma August 07, 2002 
A lineman repairing overhead electrical wires at the intersection of Montauk Highway and Dock Road in Remsenburg was electrocuted on Friday. Dennis Strittmatter, 45, of Sound Beach was an employee of Thiro USA, a private company contracted by the Long Island Power Authority to do overhead line work on utility poles. Police said Strittmatter was working on overhead voltage lines while in a vehicle-mounted aerial bucket when his ground man, Peter Melanson of Patchogue, heard an explosion. Melanson looked up and saw a second explosion and a fire, police said. According to a police report, Melanson immediately lowered the bucket to the ground and saw that Strittmatter was unconscious and had sustained severe burns to the upper portion of his body. Melanson removed Strittmatter from the bucket with the help of a passing motorist, removed Strittmatter’s safety equipment and began CPR. Westhampton Volunteer Ambulance personnel responded to the scene and transported Strittmatter to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A woman answering the phone at Melanson’s house and identifying herself as his wife said he was unavailable, adding that she was unsure whether he would want to comment on the accident. Thiro USA General Manager Kirby Gearing said he believed the accident was caused by phase-to-phase contact, meaning that Strittmatter touched two of the three overhead wires he was working with at the same time. Gearing added that the company, along with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is investigating the incident. “We don’t have any definitive answer,” Gearing said. He said Strittmatter was reconductoring, or replacing, a distribution line that was damaged as a result of recent high temperatures. Strittmatter had worked for Thiro USA, which is based in Newington, Connecticut and has been in business for seven years in the United States, since May 10, he said. Gearing would not comment on whether any Thiro USA employees previously had been injured while working. He also declined to specify any precautions that employees of the company working on overhead lines are required to take, citing the OSHA investigation, but said that certain safety measures are taken. Gearing said Strittmatter was a widower with four children. LIPA spokesman Bert Cunningham said LIPA often hires subcontractors to repair weather-related damage and had contracted with Thiro USA in the past without incident. Cunningham said he was not aware of any previous deaths or injuries involving Thiro USA workers on the job. Electrocution is “one of the dangers of the job,” Cunningham said. “More often than not, [linemen] are working on a system that is live.” Linemen usually are required to wear protective clothing and take other precautions, Cunningham said. A Coram man was electrocuted last August while repairing overhead power lines in front of a residence in East Hampton. At the time of the accident, police declined to identify the company for which the man was working but said he was doing contracting work. Officials from OSHA required that a Freedom of Information Act request be filed before they would release information about any past incidents involving Thiro USA; the request was not honored by press time.

 

5 Injured in Blast at Sewage Plant
Accident: Workers were upgrading power vault in Huntington Beach. One is in critical condition.
By STANLEY ALLISON, TIMES STAFF WRITER
An electrical explosion and fire ripped through a power supply building at a Huntington Beach sewage treatment plant Tuesday, injuring five workers, one seriously. Five workers were upgrading a 12,000-volt electrical service center vault about 7:20 a.m. when the blast occurred, Orange County Sanitation District officials said. The vault distributes power to the sanitation district facility on Brookhurst Street near Pacific Coast Highway. Marc Posey, 49, of San Diego was attempting to connect wires to a system that apparently had not been shut down, officials said. There was a flash and a flame and Posey’s clothes caught fire, according to reports. The cause of the explosion is being investigated by the sanitation district and Cal-OSHA. Posey, who suffered third-degree burns over 90% of his body, was taken by helicopter within a half an hour to the Grossman Burn Center at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana. He was listed in critical but stable condition. Another worker, Roger Webb, 60, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 6% of his body. Both men are scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday, hospital officials said. Dr. Thomas Thuan Nguyen, a burn specialist, and part of the team that will be performing the operations, said Posey is “too unstable now” to undergo reconstructive surgery. Workers Scott Christenson and Travis Lindbergh were taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange with moderate and minor injuries. Phillip Sullivan was treated for minor smoke inhalation at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach and released. The plant, which processes an average of 153 million gallons of sewage daily, lost power until backup generators kicked in, officials said. The brief outage caused no problems, officials said. Police closed Brookhurst to all traffic from Pacific Coast Highway to Adams Avenue for nearly three hours. Neighbors of the square concrete building on Brookhurst said they were unaware anything was amiss until they heard firetrucks. “I didn’t hear anything,” said Tim Baker, who was making breakfast for his 2-year-old son, Robbie, at the time. Baker, whose home on Summerwind Lane is across the street from the facility, said he saw fire engines and then a helicopter flying low over his house. Times staff writer Vivian LeTran contributed to this report. 

UPDATE, Painter killed in deadly Capitol Hill accident 
By Tricia Manning-Smith, KING 5 News 
SEATTLE – A deadly accident on Seattle’s Capitol Hill leaves one man dead Sunday. A painter fell to his death, hitting power lines on the way down. “The right side of his hair was on fire, his foot was on fire, he wasn’t moving,” said Francis McGrody, witness. “We’re all standing going, ‘Holy crap. What are we going to do now?'” The painter from Seattle was apparently electrocuted as he fell four stories to his death. It appeared he wasn’t even ready to perform the job he was attempting. The worker’s boss told KING 5 News the man wasn’t even supposed to be on the boom. At the time the man was painting the side of a building. It was his first day on the job. Before chaos erupted on the scene, John McDaniel looked out his window from across the street. “It didn’t look good,” said McDaniel. “I was just looking up there. I was thinking, ‘Maybe they know what they’re doing. Oops. I guess not.'” Neighbors described hearing a loud hum then what sounded like a sonic boom. Mike Staczek looked out and saw billowing smoke. “I ran down with the only fire extinguisher I could find,” said Staczek. Witnesses said the boom lift was ablaze, its tires blown out. And on the ground lay a 48-year-old man. “He was just laying there,” described McGrody. “Part of you wants to be a spectator, the other part wants to go help the guy, but there’s a wire on the ground.” It all happened shortly before noon. The painter was up in the air more than 40-feet. Authorities said he was operating the boom by himself from the lift when his head came into contact with a 26,000-volt power line. Investigators are determining why the painter came so close. “The WAC code requires that you remain 10 feet away from high voltage, 600 volts or up,” said one city worker,” said Gene Brehmeyer, L & I Investigator. Investigators say the line may have jolted the painter several times before he plunged to the ground. L & I investigators say the investigation may take up to three weeks. If the painting company is found negligent, they could face a penalty. Power was knocked out to about 3,800 Seattle City Light customers. Power was expected to be fully restored Sunday evening.

 

Line Worker Electrocuted
Nick Iyer
An employee of a Connecticut-based electrical contracting company – hired by KeySpan to aid the Long Island Power Authority to work on their widespread heat-related outages – was electrocuted while repairing a damaged power line yesterday morning in Eastport, LIPA spokesman Bert Cunningham said. Dennis Strittmatter, 45, of Sound Beach, was working on a utility line at Montauk Highway and Dock Road at 10:36 a.m. when the accident happened, Southampton Town Police Department detectives said. Strittmatter was in a vehicle-mounted aerial bucket when his ground man heard an explosion, police said. Ground man Peter Melanson looked up and saw a second explosion. He lowered the bucket to the ground, and saw Strittmatter was unconscious and had sustained severe burns to the upper portion of his body. He was later pronounced dead at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital. A KeySpan spokeswoman said the company is investigating the accident.

 

UPDATE, Utility board mulls death of contract worker
By JIM DOSSETT, LaFollette Press Reporter 
Safety procedures and trash collection billing were major topics at the LUB meeting on Monday evening. The agenda was light, but there was serious discussion too. General Manager Kenny Baird opened the meeting with a review of the tragic accident that took the life of Rutledge man, Cory Lampkin, an employee of Dillard Smith Construction, last week. Lampkin, 24, was electrocuted when he allegedly came in contact with an “energized line,” while working on a project for LUB. Baird said the accident is still under investigation by the Tennessee Occupational and Safety Health Administration. “This is a tragic thing.… I hate that it’s happened. The victim had two small children and one on the way,” said Baird. Board member Deb Woodson asked if the LUB had ever reported a fatality from electrocution. Baird said that there have been no fatalities on his watch (seven years) and he couldn’t remember if there had been any fatalities in the past. He also reported that there is a full-time safety program in effect for LUB. “We have monthly safety meetings and if someone is not using safety equipment, we’ll have a heart-to-heart chat,” said Baird, who added that there are policies in place and procedures for disciplining employees who don’t adhere to the rules. Baird said that LUB has a full-time person, Darrell Leach, who is in charge of safety. “Water Superintendent Eddie Troxell does the training for the water department,” he said.

 

UPDATE, Tribute paid to power worker
Joshua Gay, a 26-year-old lineman, was electrocuted Tuesday. His funeral is today. 
By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer
SPRING HILL — Those who knew and loved Joshua Gay, a power company lineman electrocuted while working early Tuesday, will say goodbye to him at a funeral service this afternoon. Service will be at 2 p.m. at West Brooksville Church of God. Friends said Mrs. Cynthia Gay, 24, a dispatcher with the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, is taking one day at a time, trying to cope with the loss of her husband. She’s working to stay strong for her 2-year-old son and a child on the way. Mrs. Gay is pregnant with the couple’s second son, due in several weeks. Mr. Gay, 26, had worked for Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative for almost two years. He was working with three colleagues in a field west of Brooksville early Tuesday to restore power after a storm. Authorities said Mr. Gay climbed a pole and tried to put on his rubber gloves when he apparently slipped. Authorities believe that he instinctively threw one arm into the air and touched a live wire. Ernie Holzhauer, Withlacoochee spokesman, said the company will close its West Hernando District Office today from 1 to 4 p.m. so employees can attend the funeral. The office will reopen from 4 to 6 p.m. The company’s safety department is conducting an internal investigation, which could take several months to complete, Holzhauer said. The number of people who have called Withlacoochee and the Sheriff’s Office to offer condolences and assistance has been overwhelming, said Lt. Joe Paez. One man stopped by the Sheriff’s Office this week and left a $100 bill for Mrs. Gay. Dozens of residents have sent donations and cards, and Sheriff’s Office employees have donated more than $300, Paez said. Spring Hill firefighters also are collecting funds. “This has touched so many people,” Paez said. Colleagues have set up a trust fund for the family with SunTrust Bank. Checks can be delivered to any SunTrust in Hernando County. “The family is very, very appreciative,” said Denise Martinez, a 911 supervisor. Martinez said anyone wanting to help could give diapers for a newborn, formula or an infant seat, all of which can be dropped off at the Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Gay’s father, Herman, recalled his son as a family man who loved his work and friends. “He was on a roll, had everything together,” Herman Gay said. “Everyone who knew him liked him.”

 

ELECTRIC BLOWOUT: Buildings evacuated after 76,000-volt blast
DAVE SOMMERS, Staff Writer 
Workers at Motor Vehicle Services building and surrounding businesses were startled but otherwise unhurt yesterday when a 76,000-volt electric main blew up, sending smoke and panic through the adjacent parking garage. Fire officials said the 3:30 p.m. explosion, which occurred underneath Montgomery Street, was powerful enough that it blew a 120-pound manhole cover into the air, and also sent hazardous fumes wafting through several buildings. Fire officials noted that the blast left numerous downtown businesses without electricity for several minutes while the motor services building itself was without power for several hours. Due to the power loss, numerous workers became temporarily trapped in several elevators and had to be rescued by officials who bypassed the electrical system and got the elevators working again. As a precaution, authorities also evacuated a day-care center on East State Street and sent the children to a nearby public library. “The whole building shook a little bit,” said security guard Jeff Henderson, an employee of Health Care Pharmacy, while pointing to the dislodged manhole cover lying in the street. “Man, it was loud,” he added. “We looked outside and saw all these people running up the street, so we got out too.” Trenton Batallion Chief William Paradiso said firefighters at first were unsure what caused the explosion and smoke, so they opted to order the entire building evacuated. They later learned that the explosion occurred when the 76,000-volt electric main which runs underneath Montgomery Street essentially short-circuited, possibly due to the heat. The explosion sent fumes up through various vents into above ground buildings, he said. “We had a number of parents who came running up to us asking us about their children who were at the day-care center,” he said. In order to restore power, Public Service Electric & Gas had to perform what is called a “lockout,” in which the power to that city block was shut down and brought back up to strength using a different grid route. The power company was expected to perform a computer diagnostics test overnight to determine what caused the explosion. The results would likely be available sometime today, officials said.

 

Construction foreman faces sentence in death
By Associated Press
LANSING — A construction company pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter for the electrocution death of a 24-year-old truck driver in Dundee. J.A. Morrin Concrete Construction Co. also pleaded no contest in Monroe Circuit Court to violating the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act for ordering Robert Sorge, 24, to drive his truck under a 7,600-volt power line on Aug. 11, 2000, the Department of Consumer and Industry Services said in a written statement. Foreman James Morrin Jr. pleaded guilty to violating MIOSHA for directing Sorge to deliver gravel to a strip mall construction site despite warnings to hold off work until the power line was removed. Morrin faces up to one year in jail for the felony. The Toledo-based company also agreed to pay a $50,000 civil penalty.

 

Lineman electrocuted atop power pole
Joshua Gay, 26, was preparing to work on a faulty power line when he apparently slipped and brushed against a line, authorities say. 
By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer, St. Petersburg Times
BROOKSVILLE — The storm took Joshua Gay away from his pregnant wife and 2-year-old son early Tuesday morning. Gay, a lineman with Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, arrived in a field west of Brooksville with three colleagues to work on a faulty power line. He put on his climbing spikes and harness and started working his way up a pole, authorities said. When he reached the top, Gay tried to put on his protective rubber gloves and apparently slipped, authorities said. Deputies think he instinctively threw his arm into the air and accidentally brushed against a power line that carried 73,000 volts. Gay, a family man who loved to fish and play the guitar, was pronounced dead at 2:48 a.m. at Oak Hill Hospital, authorities said. He was 26. He left behind a wife, Cynthia, 24, and their son, Joshua Byron Gay II. Cynthia Gay is expecting the Spring Hill couple’s second child in several weeks, authorities said. “He loved the mess out of his family,” said Travis Batten, 23, a family friend. Authorities said Gay’s co-workers immediately drove a company truck through a fence near Sunshine Grove Road and pulled him down from the pole. When Hernando County paramedics arrived, Gay’s heart was not beating. They continued trying to revive Gay and took him to Oak Hill Hospital, but no one could bring him back. “We offer our deepest, heartfelt sympathy to his family, his friends and co-workers,” said Ernie Holzhauer, spokesman for Withlacoochee. “We feel like we’ve lost a family member.” A woman who answered the phone at Gay’s house Tuesday said the family wasn’t ready to talk about what happened. Gay’s wife is a dispatcher for the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office and a former mermaid at Weeki Wachee Springs. “She was a great mermaid, elegant and always smiling, one of our best,” said Robyn Anderson, general manager. “We feel terrible about what happened.” Friends on Tuesday recalled Gay as easygoing and affable. “He was hilarious, could make anybody laugh,” said Batten, who met Gay when they were students at Hernando High School. Batten recalled Gay’s stopping by his home about a month ago and talking about the baby he was expecting. “He loved them so much,” Batten said. Cody Sikes, 23, said Gay was good with people and animals. Gay liked to lie on the back of his steer, Blackjack. “He had it so he could almost ride that steer,” Sikes said. “They liked each other quite a bit.” Gay was hard working and helpful, and in high school, he would take his friends for rides in his father’s old truck, Sikes said. As word spread about Gay’s death Tuesday, employees of the Sheriff’s Office and the Hernando County Government Center began taking up a collection for his family. Anyone who wants to contribute should contact Lt. Joe Paez at 754-6830. “We’re going to do everything we can to help this family,” said Sheriff Richard Nugent.

 

Utility worker OK after shock
By CINDY SWIRKO, Sun staff writer 
ALACHUA – A city utility worker was injured Saturday night when he was working on a power line. The incident occurred about 9 p.m. Wyley Ritch was getting a tree limb off a line at NW 138th Terrace and 145 Avenue when he accidently touched a live wire, said Alachua Police Maj. Clovis Watson. Ritch lost consciousness for a short time and was taken to Shands at UF. “Mr. Ritch apparently touched a live wire, though he doesn’t really remember what happened,” said Watson, who was voted in as Alachua’s new city manager on Friday. “He was taken to the hospital, and he is now conscious and alert. He appeared to be doing OK.” Alachua County Fire Rescue spokesman Justin Lagotic said Ritch was struck by about 7,200 volts. Ritch was in a tree surgeon’s bucket extended up to the line when the mishap occurred. Lagotic said Ritch has third-degree burns to fingers on both hands and that he escaped injuries that could have been much more serious. “The tree surgeon got him down out of the bucket. When we arrived on-scene, he was unconscious,” Lagotic said. “He’s extremely lucky to be alive, having that much electricity run through your body. He could have easily died.”

 

Levelland Teen Dies From Electrocution
A Levelland teenager has died after being electrocuted last week. Tyler Silvas, 16, died Wednesday evening at University Medical Center. He was severely shocked on Sunday, June 14, when he and his brother lifted an irrigation pipe near a power line. Tyler’s little brother, Tanner, was released from UMC last week.

 

NOTE:

I am the mother of the Levelland Texas teenaged boy named Tyler Silva, whom you have added to your electrical injuries page # 4.  Please update your page to correctly read that the accident occurred on July 14, 2002 and he died from his injuries 10 days later on July 24, 2002. They lifted a loose irrigation pipe into a directly overhead power line after chasing a squirrel into the pipe. the accident occurred in the Levelland City Park, while the boys were attending a birthday party. If you have any questions, please call me at (number removed) or you may email me at azure@(removed)

most sincerely,

Randi Rives

mother of tyler and tanner silva

Levelland Texas

 

Utilities worker killed doing storm repair work
NEWNAN, Ga. – A lineman who had worked for Newnan Utilities since 1989 was electrocuted while doing routine storm repair work.  James Richard Sewell, 35, of Newnan, had no heartbeat when emergency crews arrived about 3:15 p.m. Monday, according to Melvin Hunter of VitalCare EMS. Sewell was up in a bucket truck at the time, he said.  Crews continued to perform CPR and defibrillation on Sewell and ran a full course of drugs, “but … we never could get him back,” Hunter said.  Newnan Utilities General Manager Dennis McEntire said Sewell and other crew members were doing “routine storm restoration” related to Sunday’s storms when he somehow came into contact with electricity.  “He was a lineman, a good one and very well trained,” McEntire said.

 

Man dies of burns from explosion at Portland plant 
PORTLAND – One man died Monday and another man was hurt after a reported explosion at a North Portland plant. Kevin Montavon, 44, from Portland died Monday after suffering third degree burns on 90 percent of his body. Earlier Monday he had been in critical condition at Legacy Emanuel Burn Center. Montavon also had inhalation burns. James Hall, 53, of Portland remains in critical condition at Legacy with second degree burns on 17 percent of his body. A spokesman for Portland Fire and Rescue says the accident occurred at Terminal Flour Mill, a grain-handling plant near Terminal Four at the Port of Portland. The two victims told rescuers that they had been doing electrical work on a 480-volt electrical panel carrying 1000 amps of power. Officials say no one else appeared to be injured in the accident.

 

Electrocution suspected in man’s death at school
A bricklayer died, apparently of electrocution, in Independence Junior High School in Palos Heights on Wednesday while constructing a wall in a classroom that was being remodeled, officials said. The victim was identified by the Cook County medical examiner’s office as Ernesto Castillo, 38, of the 3100 block of South 54th Avenue, Cicero. The incident occurred between 1 and 2 p.m. in a section of the school, 6610 W. Highland Drive, that has been undergoing remodeling since last July, Police Chief Howard Roseen said. Neither Roseen nor Ted Struck, superintendent of Palos Heights District 128, knew how the accident happened nor the name of the company that employed Castillo. He apparently “did not fall from a height” and “there didn’t seem to be anything that fell on him,” said Struck, who had been observing the remodeling work earlier Wednesday. Struck described the classroom where Castillo had been working as “pretty much a barren room.” “The only thing in there are the lights, which were on, and a fan, which was blowing,” he said. Struck said district officials will meet Thursday with the architect and general contractor to try to determine what happened. 

Pelham landscaper electrocuted in Indian Point accident
By ROGER WITHERSPOON, THE JOURNAL NEWS 
BUCHANAN – A 28-year-old landscape worker at the Indian Point 2 nuclear power plant was electrocuted yesterday while clearing brush near the plant’s incoming power line. The victim was identified by the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office as Frederick Lawley of Pelham. The accident cut off power to the plant, forcing Entergy, which owns Indian Point, to switch to two backup diesel generators to supply electricity for the nuclear plant’s systems. Power from the 1,000-megawatt plant was reduced by 5 percent for about six hours while the backup generators were in use, company spokesman Jim Steets said. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was notified about the incident. The accident occurred about 2:15 p.m., Steets said, while Lawley was using a weed whacker to clear brush from a hillside behind the power transformer serving Indian Point 2. Each of the power plants at Indian Point sends about 1,000 megawatts — enough to serve 1 million homes — to a Consolidated Edison transmission station at the edge of the Indian Point property. The plants tap their outgoing power lines with a single, returning, 138,000-volt line that goes to the plant’s transformer and is then distributed to the plant itself. That provides the power for everything from lights in the complex to the nuclear reactor’s control room. Steets said Lawley apparently leaned against a sapling on the hillside that was hanging over the incoming power line. The sapling touched the line, which is not insulated, and Lawley was electrocuted. Lawley was an employee of the Samuel Cockburn & Sons landscape firm in the Bronx, which handles groundskeeping at the site under contract with Entergy. Lawley had worked at the plant site for more than a year, Steets said. An emergency team from the Verplanck Ambulance Corps and the Verplanck Fire Department responded to the scene, Steets said, but Lawley could not be revived. 

HOME SAFETY, Postman Finds Electrocution Victim
Web Editor: Tracey Christensen
A postal worker trying to deliver mail to a home in Marietta, Ga., ended up finding a woman’s body in the back of the home. The worker knocked on the front door of the home on Yancy Drive, prompting a small child to answer the door. The postman asked the girl to find her mother. The child returned to say her mother was on the ground behind the house. The postal worker ran to the victim’s side and administered CPR until paramedics arrived. Medical crews were unable to revive the woman, who has been identified as 38-year-old Rhonda Greiner. The Cobb County Medical Examiners Office determined that Greiner died as a result of being electrocuted. Investigators found the victim holding the frayed cord of a fan, which was plugged into a nearby electrical outlet. They believe the combination of the frayed wire and the dew on the ground led to the electrocution.

 

Utility worker burned in power line accident 
A Jacksonville utility worker was taken to Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville after he was burned Thursday performing routine power line maintenance. Howard Mullis, an apprentice line maintenance worker with JEA, was with with a four-member crew working on a 26,000-volt electric line when the accident occurred about 1:45 p.m. in the 6300 block of Archery Avenue in northwest Jacksonville. He suffered flash burns and was taken to Shands Jacksonville by rescue workers before being taken to the Gainesville burn hospital, said JEA spokesman Bruce Dugan. The city utility is investigating the accident.

 

Worker Electrocuted At Local Road Project
A construction worker was killed on the job Sunday as crews wrapped up work on a bridge project. The victim, whose name has not been released, was electrocuted at the Graves Road overpass over Interstate 275 in Hebron, WLWT Eyewitness News 5’s Tony Gnau reported. Police said that the man was installing metal guardrails next to the a truck with a hydraulic lift. The truck’s lift came into contact with power lines above the road, unbeknownst to anyone on the ground, and the victim was shocked when he touched the truck, WLWT reported. The shock threw the man down the side of a hill. When rescue crews arrived, the victim’s coworkers were trying to revive him with CPR. Doctors from University Hospital’s Air Care helicopter pronounced the man dead at the scene, WLWT reported.

 

Nestle faces court action over worker’s death

Nestle is to be prosecuted for alleged safety breaches in an incident where a worker was electrocuted and killed. The move follows an investigation into the fatal accident, in November, 1999, when Anthony Allen died at a Nestle factory in Hayes, Middlesex. Mr Allen was an employee of contractor Monotronic. Nestle is facing four charges arising from the incident, while Monotronic is facing three charges. The charges against both companies arise from the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations and Electricity at Work Regulations. The case is to be heard at Isleworth Crown Court, Middlesex, west London, on July 8. A spokeswoman for the firm said: “Nestle UK Ltd would like to express our sympathy to the family and friends of Mr Tony Allen over this tragic incident. “We have worked closely with the Health and Safety Executive in their investigation of this case, but as it will be subject to Crown Court proceedings from Monday it would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this stage.”

Man electrocuted on rooftop

OKARA (APP): A man was electrocuted when he accidentally touched high voltage electricity wires running above the roof of his house in chak 51/2-L, a nearby village.It was reported that power cables of 11,000 kv passed quite low over the roofs of many houses in the said village. When a resident Mohammad Ashiq Dogar went up to the roof, he accidentally touched a wire and was electrocuted. After a long time, his wife and children found him dead hanging from the cable. They screamed for help but it was already too late. Neighbours rushed over and raised anti Wapda slogans. Wapda staff reportedly reached the spot after three hours, disentangled the dead body and left the locality in haste.

 

Construction workers pulled from hole

By LARRY HARTSTEIN, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

One worker was seriously injured, and two others were taken to the hospital today after an accident at a construction site at Ga. 400 and Windward Parkway. Police did not immediately release the names of the injured, including a man who apparently received an electric shock and some burns while working in a 20-foot hole. The shocks knocked the employee of Dillard Smith Construction Co. off the ladder, officials said. “We’re not quite sure what caused the shock at this point,” said Alpharetta Police Sgt. Chris Lagerbloom. The shock victim was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, but his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, Lagerbloom said. Two other workers received lesser injuries and were taken by ambulance to North Fulton Medical Center, he said. According to Alpharetta firefighters, the call came in about 11:15 a.m. A team of Alpharetta firefighters rappelled into the hole, using ropes. They stabilized all three workers on stretchers and then lifted them out by a crane. “They were just anxious, wanting to get out of the hole,” said firefighter Randy Jenkins. “One was in a good bit of pain.” Windward Parkway was closed to traffic for about two hours. Dillard Smith Construction was working at the site as a Georgia Power Co. contractor, officials said. The crew was working with a large power conduit, Lagerbloom said.

 

Oil well accident kills two

CHANUTE — Two Coffey County men were electrocuted while working on an oil well near Chanute. Neosho County Sheriff Jim Keath said Bradley S. Fischer, 32, discovered his brother, Stephen R. Fischer, 38, of Burlington, had been electrocuted at an oil field pump jack after arriving at his job site on Tuesday. Bradley Fischer told officers his brother and a cousin had been working at the location. Fischer told officers he stopped at the job site to pick up his brother and Jamie DeVore, 19, of Le Roy, to return home for the day. He discovered his brother near the pulling unit, but couldn’t find DeVore, he told officers. Officers discovered DeVore also had been electrocuted near the pulling unit, Keath said An investigation by the Neosho County Coroner’s Office and sheriff’s department investigators determined the accident occurred when a boom on the pulling unit made contact with overhead power lines. Both men were working for Birk Oil, of Burlington.

 

UPDATE, Ambridge man electrocuted at shredding company

By Bill Toland, Times Staff

HARMONY TWP. – An Ambridge man who worked at a local document-shredding plant died of electrocution shortly before midnight on Wednesday, and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is probing the accident. Eric Frey, 24, of 1207 Beaver Road was taken to Sewickley Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His death was an accident, according to the Allegheny County coroner’s office. Police said that Frey, who worked at Iron Mountain Confidential Destruction Co. in Harmony Township, apparently touched an electrical panel next to the shredder at his workstation. The company stores and destroys records, media and electronic data. The Harmony operation is responsible only for shredding materials. Frey was electrocuted around 11:10 p.m. Wednesday, and officially pronounced dead about an hour later, the coroner’s office said. Police performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation but were unable to revive Frey. Iron Mountain spokesman Ken Rubin called the death an “awful tragedy.” “We’re just very saddened,” he said. “We’re cooperating 100 percent with the authorities. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and colleagues.” Frey had worked at Iron Mountain, operating the document-shredding machine, about nine months, Rubin said. Harmony Township Police Sgt. Jim Essek said Frey was nearing the end of his shift and was cleaning his workstation with an air hose. Next to the shredder was an 8-by-6-foot electrical panel, housing circuits and wires. Essek said the panel doors are supposed to remain closed when the panel is electrically charged, but the doors were open on Wednesday night. Two co-workers, who fed a conveyor belt with materials to be shredded, noticed the open doors. “When they went around the door, they found him lying inside the panel,” Essek said. Frey was slumped to the ground, and had an electrical burn mark on his left arm, he said. “That door should not open, as long as that panel is energized,” Essek said. A sign on the outside of the panel door reads: “480 Volts.” That’s four times the voltage, and many times the current, delivered by a standard household electrical socket. The police investigation is over, and no criminal charges will be filed, Essek, said, but OSHA will continue to investigate. Frey was the son of Eric and Donna Frey of Aliquippa, and Alice Troia of Monaca. He was a 1995 graduate of Aliquippa High School, and he attended Robert Morris University. Frey’s electrocution was the second local incident this week in which workers were severely shocked on the job. Three men working at Brentwood Towne Square were hospitalized on Tuesday after the crane on which they were working nearly hit a 138,000-volt high-tension line. About 400 Americans are electrocuted every year, and about 140 are killed on the job, according to OSHA.

 

Penn. Worker Electrocuted on the Job

HARMONY, Pa. (AP) – A worker was electrocuted while cleaning an industrial paper-shredder, authorities said. Eric Frey, 24, was found unconscious Wednesday night near the machine at Iron Mountain Confidential Destruction and died an hour later. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

 

Worker electrocuted at Westin Copley

By Globe Staff and Wires, 6/25/2002

An employee of the Westin Copley Place Hotel in Boston died after an accident in the lobby last night, police said. The victim appears to have been electrocuted about 8:45 p.m. while he was repairing an escalator. The man, whose identity was not released, was pronounced dead on arrival at New England Medical Center, spokeswoman Suzanne Kim said.

 

One dead, one injured in power-line accident

Feds probe fatal accident; Investigators seek cause of construction electrocution

By Joyce L. Miller

CAMDEN COUNTY – Federal investigators are attempting to determine the cause of a construction accident that left one person dead and a second in critical condition when a drilling rig hit overhead utility lines. Nicholas Volkerding, 19, of Marthasville, Mo. was killed in the accident. He and his father, John Volkerding, 49, were part of a crew drilling holes for a billboard along Highway 54 in the Linn Creek area. Nicholas Volkerding’s death has officially been ruled an electrocution. His father was also injured in the accident and was taken to the University of Missouri Hospital and Clinics in Columbia in critical condition. Representatives of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have cordoned off the site of the accident. They are trying to determine if equipment failure or operator error caused the accident. According to the Camden County Sheriff’s Department, the accident was reported around 10:45 a.m. Monday morning by the owner of a sign company who was overseeing the installation of a billboard. Nicholas Volkerding was electrocuted when the drilling rig became entangled in overhead electrical lines. The overhead line was carrying 7,200 watts of electricity. In order to get to the victims and clear the scene of equipment, AmerenUE was called in to shut down electricity to the area at a nearby substation. The sheriff’s department said there were crews from the drilling company and the sign company on the site when the accident occurred. The Volkerdings worked for BMS Drilling of Brumley. John Volkerding is listed in critical condition with extensive burns. It is unclear where John Volkerding was standing when struck by the electricity. His son was standing on the ground near the drilling equipment.

 

NRC will investigate cause of fire at Cook

By H-P STAFF

BRIDGMAN — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced it has begun a special inspection of the circumstances surrounding a circuit breaker fire at the D.C. Cook Nuclear Plant that left a worker injured. The fire took place Wednesday in a plant switchyard, which resembles a large electrical substation. The switchyard is about one-half mile from the plant’s twin reactors. The NRC regional office in Chicago said the agency’s inspection will review the causes of the fire, the work that was under way in the switchyard at the time, and repair and recovery plans. Both reactors were in operation at the time of the fire, the NRC said. Unit 1 was at 68 percent power after starting up from a refueling and maintenance outage, and Unit 2 was at 100 percent. The units remained in operation. The plant’s owner, American Electric Power Co., said a 345-kilovolt transformer exploded, injuring a contract employee. The piece of equipment is about 18 inches in diameter, and flames reached seven feet in the air before the fire was put out by the plant’s fire brigade. The injured worker was treated for cuts at Lakeland Hospital in St. Joseph. As a result of the fire, AEP declared an alert for only the second time since it was built in 1969. The NRC monitored plant activities from its regional office, in Lisle, Ill., and its operations center in Rockville, Md. The agency’s resident inspector was on-site at the time of the fire, and the senior resident inspector from the Palisades Nuclear Plant near South Haven went to Cook.

 

Electrical Explosion Leaves 900 Without Power

BAY VILLAGE, Ohio — Power has been restored to nearly 900 customers in Bay Village who lost it Saturday during an electrical explosion. NewsChannel5 reported that the explosion happened at Walker Road, near Bradley. Officials said that an electrical pole exploded and fell, leaving plenty of live wires exposed.  First Energy said that it does not know the exact cause of the fire. There were no injuries.

 

Worker Critical After Being Shocked By Power Lines

A Lorain, Ohio, man is fighting for his life Monday after being shocked by power lines. NewsChannel5 reported that the apparent accident happened as Derick Carter, 20, worked on the mortar on buildings in downtown Amherst. Officials said that Carter was on top of a “cherry picker” and leaned his head back into the power lines. He is listed in critical condition at MetroHealth Medical Center.

 

Man Electrocuted In Farm Accident
Power county – a local farmer from parker, Idaho died yesterday afternoon.
Timothy brown was electrocuted when the irrigation pipe he was moving struck a power line. His body was discovered by his father, Sid brown. Timothy Brown was only 22 years old. Idaho power safety experts tell us tonight.in the last 26 years there have been 24 incidences involving pipes and power lines. Of those, 7 resulted in death. Utah power and light offiicals did ask us to remind viewers of some simple safety rules: first: * look up! Always look up for overhead power lines before beginning any activity.* follow the 10-foot rule. Keep everything-you, the tools and materials you are handling and the equipment you are operating-as far away as possible from all power lines and never come closer than 10 feet. * never stand an irrigation pipe on end near a power line. * irrigate with care. Do not spray water on power lines, equipment or structures. Not only can it damage equipment and short circuit the electrical system, a stream of water hitting a power line can create a path for electricity. For safety materials in english and spanish call utah power at 1-800-791-6093.

 

Power-line touch fatal to teen
BY ANA RHODES
A teenage boy was killed in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday when a pole he was using to gather mangoes touched a power line. It was the second such death in three weeks in Broward. Alexander Sivirian, 17, had climbed nearly to the top of the tree outside a home at 539 NE Fourth Ave. He reached up beyond the top of the tree with a 17-footlong aluminum pole. It touched the line, sending a 7,620-volt surge that knocked Alexander out of the tree, and sent him crashing onto a plastic picnic table. Maria Serrano lives next door and heard Sivirian fall and break the picnic table. She said the young man’s family members yelled for her to call 911. Fort Lauderdale paramedics arrived within a few minutes and rushed Alexander to Broward General Medical Center, but it was too late. ”When I saw him he was already dead,” said Serrano. ”His hair and his feet were burned.” She said the close-knit family was devastated as paramedics took Sivirian away. Alexander arrived in the United States only about a year ago from El Salvador, and was working at a restaurant, his family said. He lived in the tiny house with his older brother José; José’s wife Marisol Flores and their three children; and Favio Flores, 75, a family friend who said he was the boys’ guardian and practically raised them. A third brother, Nicolas also lives in Fort Lauderdale. ”They’re such good people,” said Serrano. It’s horrible. Almost every day they were getting mangoes from that tree. I never thought something like this would happen.” Family members said Alexander enjoyed sports, Latin music and watching Spanish telenovelas. ”He was such a great kid, such a hard worker,” said Favio Flores. “He never gave me any trouble.” Detective Mike Reed of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department said that electrocution appeared to be the cause of death, but an autopsy would determine for sure whether the young man was killed by electricity or by the fall. The tree, which is about 30 feet tall, doesn’t touch the power lines, which FPL officials say are 32 feet above the ground. A 55-year-old man was electrocuted under identical circumstances last month while picking mangoes with a pool net in unincorporated Broward near Pompano Beach. Eduardo Sandoval, 55, was on a 24-foot extension ladder at 248 NE 40th Ct. when the pole he was holding apparently came into contact with power lines. ”There’s nothing we can do to prevent this from happening,” said FPL spokesman Bill Swank. “When [the pole] made contact, the electricity flows down the pole. That’s why we’re forever encouraging people not to use poles in trees or anywhere near the line.”

 

Man injured when jackhammer hits power line at Tech construction site

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Chad Strickland was in the burn unit at University Medical Center after a jackhammer he was using Friday struck an underground power line

The Lubbock man was using a jackhammer to break up concrete at an entryway when it punched into a 208-volt power line linked to the transformer. The force from the jackhammer caused an explosion, and the hose attached to the jackhammer caught fire, District Fire Chief Chris Angerer said. The 35-year-old employee of Brown-McKee Inc. was taken to UMC with second- and third-degree electrical burns to his arm after the transformer box exploded at Doak Hall on the Texas Tech campus. Several fire units arrived at the scene at 10:47 a.m. and found Strickland lying on a sidewalk, Angerer said. Strickland was in serious condition Friday night, a hospital spokeswoman said. The transformer box was destroyed, and its power was isolated to prevent additional outages. Lubbock Power & Light Assistant Director Derrell Oliver said the transformer will be replaced within two to three days.

 

Power-Line Worker Electrocuted, Dies

Sauk Rapids Man Killed Working On Power Line

A Sauk Rapids man working on a power line in Benton County died Wednesday after being apparently electrocuted. Daniel Kirchner, 40, was in a ladder bucket extended from a truck co-owned by Accurate Electric, a Sauk Rapids-based electrical company while working on the power line in rural Minden Township, the St. Cloud Times reported. Kirchner was rushed to St. Cloud Hospital where he was pronounced dead Wednesday evening. Firefighters were called to the scene at about 8:15 p.m. Investigators with the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the death, standard practice whenever a worker is killed on the job. Kirchner’s body was taken to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s office for the autopsy.

 

UPDATE, Report: No one criminally liable in Alachua boy’s electrocution

News-Journal wire services

ALACHUA — The State Attorney’s Office says there is no evidence that anyone was criminally liable for the electrocution of a 12-year-old boy in a transformer room attached to the Alachua City Hall. The office conducted its investigation into the May 1 death of Adam Webb at the request of City Manager Jim Jarboe. Jarboe did not immediately return a call to The Associated Press. Webb’s body was found by two city employees inside the unlocked transformer enclosure on May 3, two days after his mother reported him missing. Webb’s fingers and left forearm were burned, indicating he had been electrocuted, according to the report. There was a flash burn mark on the insulator of one of the three transformers in the enclosure, indicating it had been touched. According to the report, there was no warning sign posted at the enclosure, and the lock to the gate had been lying on top of a meter outside the enclosure for four to five months. Webb entered the transformer enclosure about 7 p.m. on May 1. The report said his friend, 13-year-old Dwight Jenkins, was near Webb at the time of his death. Jenkins gave conflicting reports to investigators about what happened. In one interview, he said he heard a buzzing sound and didn’t know what had happened so he left. In another account, Jenkins said he waited for Webb for nearly five minutes, called out to him and left when he got no response, according to the report.

Power supplier fined $160,000 after employee suffers burns

A New South Wales power supplier has been fined $160,000 after an employee suffered burns to 50 per cent of his body. Workcover says in 1999 an employee of Northpower, based at Port Macquarie on the state’s mid-north coast, suffered a severe electric shock when a metal tape supplied to him by the company came into contact with a live electrical conductor. A statement by Workcover says Northpower pleaded guilty to a breach of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in the Industrial Relations Commission and has been fined $160,000 plus court costs.