highlineswitcher
12-07-2007, 09:34 AM
An employee of Totowa-based JBL Electric plummeted from an electric tower to his death as he worked in Bridgewater on Wednesday afternoon.
Arthur Crane, a 45-year-old Stanhope resident and an electrical lineman, had been repairing the footings of a high tension tower on Milltown Road that is owned by Public Service Electric and Gas. As he climbed the tower around noon on Wednesday, he slipped and fell about 80 feet to the ground.
One of Crane's two co-workers immediately called 911 via cell phone, and four members of the Bridgewater Police responded to the call.
They were joined by members of the Bradley Gardens Rescue Squad and a Mobile Intensive Care Unit from Somerset Medical Center. A physician from the hospital pronounced him dead at 12:19 p.m. at the scene, and his body was transported to the New Jersey State Medical Examiner's office.
No prior incidents had ever occurred at the tower, said Bridgewater police Sgt. Richard Hollender.
Crane had two daughters and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
His uncle, Robert Crane, of Andover, reported that Crane's father was flying up from his home in Florida.
"We really don't know too much yet. We don't know about the arrangement," he said.
Dave Fiore, a business agent with IBEW Local 102 in Parsippany, confirmed that workers are harnessed while working on outdoor towers but must remove the safety equipment when moving from one level to another.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been contacted and an investigation is pending.
Calls to JBL Electric in Totowa were not returned.
7230806
Arthur Crane, a 45-year-old Stanhope resident and an electrical lineman, had been repairing the footings of a high tension tower on Milltown Road that is owned by Public Service Electric and Gas. As he climbed the tower around noon on Wednesday, he slipped and fell about 80 feet to the ground.
One of Crane's two co-workers immediately called 911 via cell phone, and four members of the Bridgewater Police responded to the call.
They were joined by members of the Bradley Gardens Rescue Squad and a Mobile Intensive Care Unit from Somerset Medical Center. A physician from the hospital pronounced him dead at 12:19 p.m. at the scene, and his body was transported to the New Jersey State Medical Examiner's office.
No prior incidents had ever occurred at the tower, said Bridgewater police Sgt. Richard Hollender.
Crane had two daughters and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
His uncle, Robert Crane, of Andover, reported that Crane's father was flying up from his home in Florida.
"We really don't know too much yet. We don't know about the arrangement," he said.
Dave Fiore, a business agent with IBEW Local 102 in Parsippany, confirmed that workers are harnessed while working on outdoor towers but must remove the safety equipment when moving from one level to another.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been contacted and an investigation is pending.
Calls to JBL Electric in Totowa were not returned.
7230806