Man Electrocuted in Salt Lake City

It's important to Play It Safe and never perform any maintenance or work on or near powerlines or transformers. This is work that needs to be left to professionals. The following is an except from a news story by Pat Reavy of KSL.com involving a private citizen doing their own work on powerlines with a cherry picker:

 

The incident happened about 11:40 a.m. near 200 E. Williams Ave. (1000 South). The man was using a hydraulic elevated platform, commonly referred to as a cherry picker, when the machine accidentally touched live power lines, said Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Anthony Burton.

A passerby saw what had happened and called 911. The first arriving crews had to wait for Rocky Mountain Power crews to shut off power to those lines before they could get the man off the platform as it was still touching them, Burton said. The man was believed to already be deceased at that point, he said. 

 

#ALERT: Area around 200 East & Belmont Avenue closed off after a man was electrocuted to death. pic.twitter.com/Rpb135b53n

— Kelli Pierce (@KelliReports) January 30, 2020

 

Are we doing enough to educate the public about electrical safety?