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Virginia Firefighters Injured In Ladder Accident
SUSAN PHILLIPS and PEGGY FOX
WUSA9
Reprinted with Permission
FAIRFAX STATION, Va. (WUSA) - "I heard five big booms. It sounded like an explosion," said John Mason who lives near Fairfax County's new Crosspointe fire station where a dangerous mistake could have been deadly.
Related
"We don't like that this happened, especially to us, but thankfully, nobody was seriously injured," said Dan Schmidt, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department.
Ironically, the accident happened during a routine safety check at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday. Schmidt says a firefighter on the ladder truck was raising and moving the ladder when it hit the 230,000 volt transmission line above.
The firefighter who was on the truck jumped off and another one who was standing nearby was hit by flying debris from a concrete barrier that exploded. They were both transported to a hospital with minor injuries.
"Carelessness. They're usually very professional. That's not the kind of mistake you'd expect from them, " said Richard Magee of Alexandria. He was one of more than 31,000 power customers of Dominion Virginia that lost power because of the incident.
Virginia Dominion officials say they restored power to all of those customers by 10:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Officials said the contact between the ladder truck and the power line caused a small fire in an electrical panel inside the fire station.
Metro officials told 9NEWS NOW the outage affected the King Street, Van Dorn, and Springfield Metro stations, where power has since been restored.
A third firefighter was taken to the hospital to check for possible hearing loss after the explosion. Both the Fairfax County Fire Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating.
Written by Peggy Fox
9NEWS NOW & wusa9.com
WUSA9
Reprinted with Permission
FAIRFAX STATION, Va. (WUSA) - "I heard five big booms. It sounded like an explosion," said John Mason who lives near Fairfax County's new Crosspointe fire station where a dangerous mistake could have been deadly.
Related
- Power Restored For Thousands Of Northern Virginia Residents
- STATter911: 3 firefighters slightly hurt. 31,000 lost power
"We don't like that this happened, especially to us, but thankfully, nobody was seriously injured," said Dan Schmidt, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department.
Ironically, the accident happened during a routine safety check at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday. Schmidt says a firefighter on the ladder truck was raising and moving the ladder when it hit the 230,000 volt transmission line above.
The firefighter who was on the truck jumped off and another one who was standing nearby was hit by flying debris from a concrete barrier that exploded. They were both transported to a hospital with minor injuries.
"Carelessness. They're usually very professional. That's not the kind of mistake you'd expect from them, " said Richard Magee of Alexandria. He was one of more than 31,000 power customers of Dominion Virginia that lost power because of the incident.
Virginia Dominion officials say they restored power to all of those customers by 10:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Officials said the contact between the ladder truck and the power line caused a small fire in an electrical panel inside the fire station.
Metro officials told 9NEWS NOW the outage affected the King Street, Van Dorn, and Springfield Metro stations, where power has since been restored.
A third firefighter was taken to the hospital to check for possible hearing loss after the explosion. Both the Fairfax County Fire Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating.
Written by Peggy Fox
9NEWS NOW & wusa9.com
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by ashfire on
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I leard that the power companies have devices that warn of being too close to a down power line or being close to a power field. Power workers have a device that they can wear that looks like a personal strobe light which warns the wearer of a power field close to them.
I have wonder why fire apparatus manufactors have never thought of placing a warning device on fire service ladders or towers units to prevent contact with power lines or devices.
I have seen compnies selling a warning device at expos to warn fire service personnel if a downed line is dangerous or not. Looks like a club that flashes and buzzes if a down line is energized.
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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on
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Don't know about all those gadgets, but in all my years I've never seen a downed, energized, power line that left any doubt that it was hot!!!
TCSS
Reg
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These devices are for the downed line you don't see and will knock you out of your boots.
http://www.HDElectricCompany.com V-Watch Personal Voltage Detector you can checkout the video about how they work including all the other devices they sell.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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Here's a thought.
Why don't we use our eyes and watch what we are doing instead of relying on gadgets? Don't get me wrong, the aforementioned devices can help, but anything built by man (generically speaking)can fail.
I am truly amazed that the operator wasn't killed, and I hope that this incident will serve as a very large wake up call to the rest of us.
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You should see what damage was done to the station when the power from the line ran down the jacks into the concrete and right to the door behind the truck.
I know two volunteer firefighters that lost limbs from raising a ground ladder into a power line in a alley behind a building many years ago. They were luckey to live through that.
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