San Joaquin County Man Who Died After High-Voltage Tower Climb Identified
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY (CBS13) — A San Joaquin County man is the second person in recent months to die after climbing a high-voltage tower.
Investigators say the man died on Saturday after climbing the second tier of a high-voltage electrical tower in Lockeford, near Lodi.
Pacific Gas & Electric says the towers are not designed to be easily accessible; a climber would have to pull himself up to a rung that is covered with metal spikes.
Despite the difficulty, authorities say this is the second time someone has climbed up.
Mokelumne Rural Fire crews say if you touch the tower you can feel the buzz of the electrical power.
"From what PG&E told us, even getting up to the first level, which is probably about 50 foot, you're going to feel tingling. Getting up to the second level, where the person was at, they're going to feel a lot of tingling and vibration, so it's very unsafe to be up there," said Capt. Mark Webber.
On Saturday evening, a homeowner says she heard explosions and saw a fireball coming from the high-voltage tower. Sunday morning, she found the body of 22-year-old David Snider, Jr. of Lockeford.
A homeowner near the towers says he saw a man on the tower last month, but authorities couldn't confirm if the man was Snider.
Mokelumne Rural Fire responded to both calls and say there's not much they can do if a person climbs the tower until PG&E can turn the power off.
"The supervisor showed up for the high transmission power lines and had to go through a whole process of shutting the power down, which took over two hours," Webber said.
There are several federal and state safety regulations PG&E has to follow, and the towers are difficult to climb.