Regina man electrocuted
The Leader-Post Thursday, May 22, 2003
A 29-year-old Regina man was killed Wednesday after being electrocuted while attempting to clear a power line that struck a cultivator attachment in the Grand Coulee area. RCMP say a power pole in a field was struck and knocked over while the man was cultivating in a field, north of the Trans-Canada Highway about five kilometres west of Regina. The power line came into contact with the cultivator. Police say the man, whose name has not been released, died while attempting to free the power line. The accident occurred shortly before 1:30 p.m.
Gulf Power lineman electrocuted in Panhandle
A Gulf Power Co. lineman was electrocuted when he came into contact with a live wire, the Pensacola-based utility's first fatality in 21 years. Joseph D. "J.D." Webb died Tuesday, the same day emergency personnel in a neighboring Florida Panhandle county were honored for saving the life of another Gulf Power employee shocked two weeks earlier. Webb, 31, died at West Florida Hospital in nearby Pensacola after he was shocked while working in a bucket truck in this Santa Rosa County community, Gulf Power spokeswoman Lynn Erickson said. Webb, who was single, had worked for Gulf Power for eight years. Okaloosa County Commissioners, also Tuesday, honored emergency workers who helped save Gulf Power employee Timmy Oakes, who was shocked May 2 while working on an electrical box behind a new building supply store in Destin. "I'm thankful for life today, and I'm thankful that all of you men and women, that God had you in place," Oakes, 29, said during the ceremony. "It makes a difference." He was in critical condition when taken Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola but upgraded to good in just two days. Another Gulf Power employee, Alan Hall, helped pry Oakes from the electrical box. Two sheriff's deputies administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation until Destin firefighters arrived with a defibrillator to shock him back to life. Ambulance personnel then completed the rescue.
Downtown Memphis Power Outage
May 20, 2003
Memphis, TN - Power is restored to downtown memphis after a transformer blew leaving much of the area in the dark. Two MLGW workers were injured in the incident. The two men were working on a substation on South Third Street when the accident happened. The substation supplies power for the area between Danny Thomas and the Mississippi River bordered the north and south by Monroe and Crump. The two MLGW workers were transported to the Med in critical condition and at this hour MLGW continues their investigation as to what happened. All of this unfolded around 8:30 this morning when those two MLGW workers were doing regular maintenance on a transformer at the substation on South Third, across from the main post office when something went wrong. A transformer in the area where they were working blew, injuring them both. We are told by mehcanics who work next door to the substation that there were sparks and a small fire that was quickly put out with a fire extinguisher by MLGW employees. Right now, MLGW is not calling this an explosion, but those who were near the substation when the transformer blew, say that's exactly what it sounded like. An eyewitness says, "I was coming right there off the bus and I heard the loud noise and I saw the smoke, for a minute, I thought something else had happened, thought maybe a bomb had gone off right here." MLGW Spokesman Mark Heuberger says, "Our first concern right now is to take care of those employees injured and they have been transported to the hospital and now we will begin the process of restoring power and investigating what happened." MLGW crews were still on the scene late today at the Third Street station. They are in the middle of they are calling safety audit. Power was fully restored just before ten this morning.
Electrician burned in accident; Flash fire leads to second- and third-degree burns
By Don Fasnacht Staff writer
An electrician suffered burns over most of his body Thursday when an electrical short ignited his clothing while he was working at the Richmond Sears store. Timothy Blake, 37, Camden, Ohio, is in serious condition at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. He was working on a circuit breaker panel that contained 440-volt service when he accidentally shorted the circuit, Battalion Chief Jerry Purcell of the Richmond Fire Department said. There was a flash fire that set his clothes on fire. "He had second-degree burns over most of his body and some third-degree burns," Purcell said. Damages to the electrical system were estimated at a minimum of $100,000. The fire was quickly brought under control. Sears was closed for the remainder of Thursday. The accident happened minutes before noon. Sears phones were not working this morning and officials at Richmond Square Mall said Sears has no official estimate of when it will re-open. All other stores in the mall are open as usual. No stores other than Sears had to be evacuated Thursday. Blake was working for Bremmer Electric of Cincinnati. He was treated at Reid Hospital and then taken to Dayton by helicopter.
Man electrocuted at BU
By MICHAEL REICH Press Enterprise Writer
BLOOMSBURG -- A Stroudsburg man was electrocuted while working in a mechanical room at Bloomsburg University's Kehr Union building early Wednesday afternoon. Craige Diaz, 48, was working alone, replacing a transfer switch, when he was electrocuted, according to university spokeswoman Bonnie Martin. Columbia County Deputy Coroner Diane Benner said university employees found him down and started performing CPR. Benner added that no one's exactly sure how much time had passed between the time Diaz was fatally shocked and when he was found. She did say, though, that the last time anyone had contact with him was 45 minutes to an hour before he was pronounced dead at Bloomsburg Hospital at 2:24 p.m. Martin said Diaz didn't work for BU. He was an employee of Emergency Systems Service Co., of Quakertown. Chief Coroner Dr. Michael Kenny said the electric current probably sent Diaz into a cardiac arrhythmia. "Electricians are always shocking themselves and unfortunately, this time it was a fatal case," said Kenny. Kenny said it wasn't a high voltage that killed Diaz. He explained that even a shock from a household current can be enough to send your heart into an arrhythmia.
