Here's another unfortunate line clearing death ...
Posted on Thu, Jul. 31, 2003 storyUB_DESC
Worker dies from electrocution
Tree trimmer cut oak branch over power line
By Kim McCoy
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
A young husband and father died Wednesday morning after being electrocuted while trimming trees.
Michael Brown, 27, of Colquitt, Ga., had been working for Musgrove Construction, a subcontractor for Talquin Electric Cooperative, for about a year. The construction company is located in Live Oak. He was married and had a 3-year-old child, said Lt. Linda Butler of the Leon County Sheriff's Office.
Brown was trimming trees away from power lines while inside a bucket lift on Dick Mitchell Drive. Brown was near a transformer when he was electrocuted about 11:30 a.m., said Sgt. Curtis Parker of the Sheriff's Office.
A preliminary investigation showed that Brown cut a limb above a power line. The limb then fell onto a high-voltage line, which struck Brown, said Allen Shepard, area operations superintendent for Talquin.
An unusual accident
Tree trimmers use insulated hydraulic saws and wear hard hats and safety harnesses, and gloves if necessary, Shepard said. Brown was wearing the necessary equipment for his job, Shepard said. Shepard has worked with the company about 25 years and doesn't remember any other worker fatalities.
"It's very rare that stuff like this happens. They're very well-trained," Butler said.
After the incident, Talquin shut down power to about 2,000 homes in the surrounding northwest area for just a few minutes, so rescue workers could work safely, Shepard said. Power to the approximately 30 homes on Dick Mitchell Drive was shut down for nearly three hours, he said.
Grady Belgeo was washing cars in his yard when he heard a buzzing sound.
"I heard a noise and looked up. ... I could see fire flash around him," he said of Brown.
Jay Walker, another Dick Mitchell Drive resident, spoke with Brown about 45 minutes before the worker died. Walker heard the tree-trimming and went to his front porch, where he could see Brown. The men greeted each other. Brown later knocked on Walker's door and told him he was going to trim some oak trees. Walker later heard a noise while working from his home office.
"I heard a pop," Walker said. "I walked outside, and saw him up there. ... He was basically motionless and leaning backwards, still standing in the bucket."
The incident is under investigation by Talquin, Musgrove, the Sheriff's Office and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration.
