2 hospitalized after contractor comes into contact with power line in San Jose
Two painting contractors were taken to a hospital after one of them came into contact with a high-voltage transmission line in San Jose on Friday morning, city fire officials said.
The incident happened shortly before 11 a.m. Friday near the intersection of Zanker Rd. and Vilaggio St. in North San Jose, a San Jose Fire Department spokesperson said. Two adult males were working in a bucket lift near power lines about 40 feet in the air when one of the workers came into contact with a power line.
According to the fire department, the worker was electrocuted and suffered burn injuries, but is alive and conscious. The second worker was unharmed. Because the lift currently cannot be lowered, fire crews have been unable to treat the injured worker
Crews remain at the scene preparing to perform a rescue once PG&E has shut off electricity and all equipment has been grounded. As of 12:15 p.m., that work was in progress.
Firefighters were eventually able to use their lift truck to extract the workers once the lines were de-energized at around 2:45 p.m.
The men were taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. The worker who made contact with the power line had burns to the upper portion of his body, according to SJFD Battalion Chief Mark Thomas.
San Jose fire spokesperson Jake Pisani said the men were contractors for San Jose-based C&A Painting. No one from the company was immediately available for comment.
Thomas says PG&E guidance is for any work crews to stay at least 30 feet away from high-voltage power lines and "we weren't sure what happened there" with the crew that made contact with the line Friday.
He said the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating since a workplace injury occurred.