Icestorm accidents

[Ghostrider]

Four Kansas City electrical workers were hurt while trying to restore power in rural southwest Missouri, authorities there said.

Exact details were unavailable, but the crew apparently was stringing electrical lines in a field near Brighton, Mo., when they received a shock sometime after 2 p.m. Tuesday, said Craig Jones, fire chief with Morrisville Fire and Rescue. Being out in a field complicated the rescue.

The injured people were sent to a hospital in Springfield — three by helicopter, one by ground ambulance, Jones said.

The injured workers are from PAR Electrical Contractors Inc., a Kansas City firm, said Amy Bass, a spokeswoman with Empire District Electric in Joplin. Their names and medical conditions were unavailable Wednesday night.

Jones described one victim’s injuries as serious, three others’ less so.

Southwest Missouri has been recovering from a severe ice storm that knocked out power across the region. At the worst point, Empire District had 85,000 customers without power, Bass said. The company hired several hundred contract workers, such as the ones who were hurt Tuesday, to help repair the damage.

Tuesday’s accident was only the latest in a series of problems the storm has brought to the area, Jones said. Firefighters have been busy responding to house fires, carbon monoxide poisonings and other ice-related woes.

Officials with PAR Electrical could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

[graybeard]

Ghost
Please keep us up on any details you can on this.

[Electriceel]

What is Par's safety record like??
Seems last year they had a worker killed while doing storm chasing in Kansas City.
Par is worldwide, but I hear they do a lot of work in the midwest, and will be one of the four contractors working in Nebraska for NPPD for the next year or so rebuilding all of the downed transmission lines

[rusty]

Ghostrider,

Brother thanks for the heads up! Our prayers are with all! It is that time of the year, and sadly EVERY YEAR we lose Brothers to the same weather problems??????

[Ghostrider]

We are working storm in NC if the rumors are true about this it is amazing anyone is alive. I heard the crew was off the main road over a mile when they were electrocuted. Heard they got into the transmission with the wire they were pulling out by hand. No rubber gloves booties any where in site.

[grillman]

From what I hear Ghostrider is right. They were pulling up the downed line, which was an underbuild, and slapped it into the 69 line. Rumors are comflicting as to uf they were pulling it out of a tree or some have said the new wire got caught on a staple on the reel and caused the wire to rise into the 69 when it finaaly came loose.
They had to pull the ambulance in and out with a dozer and 3 of the workers were life-flighted to a hospital.
We have also heard that these guys had been doing storm work for the last month, so they were probably extremely tired. I think we all know that when you get tired like that carelessness can creep up on you without even knowing it. Just a bad deal all the way around.

[jrylineman]

I may have taken this wrong but the last time I checked there was no 69 gloves, so how would these brothers have been protected on the ground by gloves. I think fatigue has alot to do with what happened, its sad sometimes what we do for that premium time. Last I heard that 3 of them were released and the forth will be going through some skin graphing. Keep praying for them and their familys.

[tramp67]

Protective grounds, rubber gloves would have helped minimize the effects of the accidental contact. Any L.A.'s on the distribution circuit would also help reduce the voltage between the conductors and the earth to a voltage that rubber gloves would be able to protect against.