TwistedCU
New member
This morning, around 9:30 am, two co-workers and I were installing a fiber optic cable on a quiet back road in MD. We were performing what we call a “mobile operationâ€, where one worker works aloft in the bucket while driving slowly along a pole line. I was the driver, another was working the ground, and Marvin was in the bucket.
About 20-30 yards from where we started I heard Marvin call out to me through the two-way intercom: “Hold-up, Hold-up!†I began braking before he finished saying it, but it was already too late. Following his shout was the unmistakable, deafening sound of an electric primary line making contact to ground.
I tried to see what had happened but my view was obstructed by a tree. All I could make out was the flash (primary still burning) and that Marvin was bent over the side of the bucket. As I put the truck in park, Smoke began to rise from under my truck. Not good. This means the boom was in contact with the wire and the truck had become energized. The tires were smoking and beginning to catch fire (primary still burning). The truck being energized meant that I was stuck. I could not get out of the truck or I would have been electrocuted because I would have provided a better path to ground than the tires, and to make it worse all the smoke now made it impossible to see Marvin.
Realizing I was both helpless and unable to do anything for Marvin, I called 911 from my cell phone. While giving the location it dawned on me that I had not yet seen the groundman (I don't feel it right to post his name). Was he touching the truck when Marvin hit the primary? Was he clear of the truck? The difference would mean whether or not he was alive.
After giving the emergency dispatcher the location and brief details, I asked her to hold. I moved over to the passenger side seat because the fuel tank is on the driver’s side and the flames were getting big over there. I opened the passenger door and screamed for the groundman. He immediately came around the side and was fine. He quickly asked if I was aware that I could not get out of the truck (yes, the primary was STILL burning). I told him yes. He told me to call 911, and that Marvin was down. I told him they were already on the way, and just then the sirens became audible.
He went to see if he could get closer to Marvin, and then I heard the primary stop burning then start again. It sounded like it had finally burned in two and dropped off the boom. I hollered for the groundman a second time, and again he came running. I asked if I was clear to get out and he said yes. FINALLY!
I jumped (it was the closest I will ever get to an Olympic long jump) from the truck to the road. The primary was still burning, but now on the ground by the pole behind us. When I looked up, the bucket was empty. That was really bad. Marvin must have fallen out and the bucket was pretty high up there.
Just then a police officer pulled up, so I advised him of the present electrical hazards and went over to the groundman and Marvin. He was in bad shape. the groundman said that he had been trying to breathe but stopped. Just then the police officer shouted that the EMT had arrived. I checked for a pulse, and he had a strong, very rapid pulse. I shouted to the officer to tell them that he had a pulse. I leaned over him to double check if he was breathing and he was not. I re-checked his pulse that quick it was gone.
The EMT was now with him, and I asked if she and the groundman needed me, she said no. There were several vehicles pulling up and I did not see the officer that first arrived, so I knew that I had to warn them to keep clear of the line which had now finally stopped burning. We didn't need any more people getting electrocuted.
They worked on him for a long time, but they were unable to revive him or even get a pulse. He had sustained an electrical shock from a 7,620 volt line and then had fallen approximately 25-30 feet... head first. He should have been belted in, and it is unclear whether or not he had his safety lanyard attached or not. He may have panicked and jumped after getting “hit†or he may have not been clipped in and just fell out afterward. We may never know.
As for contacting the primary, the groundman had just started to walk back to the other vehicle to get a tool when Marvin raised the boom to clear a tree. Normally, we just feed the wire through the trees instead of going over top of them because of the close proximities to the electrical apparatus. For the life of me I can't understand why he had that boom up that high... we just don't do that when there is electric present.
The primary had burned for what I estimate to be four minutes, the longest four minutes of my life. When it kept burning the flames from the tires had to be close to the fuel tank. That's the first time in my career of doing linework that I ever felt not in control and feared for my life.
Please pray for Marvin's family - especially his children.
About 20-30 yards from where we started I heard Marvin call out to me through the two-way intercom: “Hold-up, Hold-up!†I began braking before he finished saying it, but it was already too late. Following his shout was the unmistakable, deafening sound of an electric primary line making contact to ground.
I tried to see what had happened but my view was obstructed by a tree. All I could make out was the flash (primary still burning) and that Marvin was bent over the side of the bucket. As I put the truck in park, Smoke began to rise from under my truck. Not good. This means the boom was in contact with the wire and the truck had become energized. The tires were smoking and beginning to catch fire (primary still burning). The truck being energized meant that I was stuck. I could not get out of the truck or I would have been electrocuted because I would have provided a better path to ground than the tires, and to make it worse all the smoke now made it impossible to see Marvin.
Realizing I was both helpless and unable to do anything for Marvin, I called 911 from my cell phone. While giving the location it dawned on me that I had not yet seen the groundman (I don't feel it right to post his name). Was he touching the truck when Marvin hit the primary? Was he clear of the truck? The difference would mean whether or not he was alive.
After giving the emergency dispatcher the location and brief details, I asked her to hold. I moved over to the passenger side seat because the fuel tank is on the driver’s side and the flames were getting big over there. I opened the passenger door and screamed for the groundman. He immediately came around the side and was fine. He quickly asked if I was aware that I could not get out of the truck (yes, the primary was STILL burning). I told him yes. He told me to call 911, and that Marvin was down. I told him they were already on the way, and just then the sirens became audible.
He went to see if he could get closer to Marvin, and then I heard the primary stop burning then start again. It sounded like it had finally burned in two and dropped off the boom. I hollered for the groundman a second time, and again he came running. I asked if I was clear to get out and he said yes. FINALLY!
I jumped (it was the closest I will ever get to an Olympic long jump) from the truck to the road. The primary was still burning, but now on the ground by the pole behind us. When I looked up, the bucket was empty. That was really bad. Marvin must have fallen out and the bucket was pretty high up there.
Just then a police officer pulled up, so I advised him of the present electrical hazards and went over to the groundman and Marvin. He was in bad shape. the groundman said that he had been trying to breathe but stopped. Just then the police officer shouted that the EMT had arrived. I checked for a pulse, and he had a strong, very rapid pulse. I shouted to the officer to tell them that he had a pulse. I leaned over him to double check if he was breathing and he was not. I re-checked his pulse that quick it was gone.
The EMT was now with him, and I asked if she and the groundman needed me, she said no. There were several vehicles pulling up and I did not see the officer that first arrived, so I knew that I had to warn them to keep clear of the line which had now finally stopped burning. We didn't need any more people getting electrocuted.
They worked on him for a long time, but they were unable to revive him or even get a pulse. He had sustained an electrical shock from a 7,620 volt line and then had fallen approximately 25-30 feet... head first. He should have been belted in, and it is unclear whether or not he had his safety lanyard attached or not. He may have panicked and jumped after getting “hit†or he may have not been clipped in and just fell out afterward. We may never know.
As for contacting the primary, the groundman had just started to walk back to the other vehicle to get a tool when Marvin raised the boom to clear a tree. Normally, we just feed the wire through the trees instead of going over top of them because of the close proximities to the electrical apparatus. For the life of me I can't understand why he had that boom up that high... we just don't do that when there is electric present.
The primary had burned for what I estimate to be four minutes, the longest four minutes of my life. When it kept burning the flames from the tires had to be close to the fuel tank. That's the first time in my career of doing linework that I ever felt not in control and feared for my life.
Please pray for Marvin's family - especially his children.
