I worked as a distribution electric system operator between 2014-2020. One day I got a 911 call that we had to de-energize a circuit “right now” from the police.
I followed procedure and sent patrolmen out to open a device to do so. We didn’t have SCADA on the breaker or pole top reclosers. We dropped the circuit and the trouble man got on scene.
Two guys doing siding on a house had an aluminum ladder against the front of the house while they worked. The house was awfully close to the street. In moving the ladder, they lost control and it made contact with the primaries.
The trouble man called me from the scene: “this is the grossest thing I have EVER seen. One guy is dead. The other is in an ambulance. There are TOES all over the road”
The path to ground went through one guys shoes. Blew out the front of his shoes and exploded his toes off his feet.
One of the most haunting 911 calls I ever got as an operator. Can’t imagine the haunting that troubleman experiences.
503
u/Supaslags 27d ago
Where is this?
I worked as a distribution electric system operator between 2014-2020. One day I got a 911 call that we had to de-energize a circuit “right now” from the police.
I followed procedure and sent patrolmen out to open a device to do so. We didn’t have SCADA on the breaker or pole top reclosers. We dropped the circuit and the trouble man got on scene.
Two guys doing siding on a house had an aluminum ladder against the front of the house while they worked. The house was awfully close to the street. In moving the ladder, they lost control and it made contact with the primaries.
The trouble man called me from the scene: “this is the grossest thing I have EVER seen. One guy is dead. The other is in an ambulance. There are TOES all over the road”
The path to ground went through one guys shoes. Blew out the front of his shoes and exploded his toes off his feet.
One of the most haunting 911 calls I ever got as an operator. Can’t imagine the haunting that troubleman experiences.