LIVE TRUCK ACCIDENTS
by Mark Bell, ENGsafety.com

A truck was parked in a wide-open area at a fork in the road, right next to a telephone pole at the center of the fork. Both reporter and veteran photog/tech did not perceive the meaning of their proximity to the pole. As the photog/tech was setting up his camera, mast raised, he felt tingling from voltage in the camera cable. He then noticed the mast had been raised into the wires the pole was supporting. He told the reporter, still in the van, that she must exit, and to jump and hit the ground without touching the truck. She jumped, but the hit the open door as she hit the ground, seriously burning her leg as she grounded the power line and energized truck through it.

A reporter was in the passenger seat of a van that arrived a bit late at a live shot. The photographer, already set up, was working with the van tech to get the mast up and had just run cable to his camera. All of a sudden there was a huge explosion. The crew did not realize that the truck was parked underneath huge 230,000 volt circuit lines, one support tower of which was easily visible many yards in front of the truck. (One 230,000 volt circuit line wire will deliver 115,000 volts to ground.) The reporter’s reaction was to get up and run out of the truck. Her timing was heaven-sent perfect, as the power company’s circuit breaker had opened the circuit right before her jump from the truck. Unknown to anybody at the scene until after it happened, 15 seconds later, the circuit breaker automatically re-closed, and re-energized the circuit. The mast was still in contact with the wires, creating a second explosion, allowing 115,000 volts to again ground through the van. A picture of the reporter running from the truck with the truck’s explosive flash occurring was recorded on incident video. The technician was burned by the flash of the explosion, and the photographer was seriously injured as the camera, wired to the truck, also conducted the voltage and exploded on his shoulder.

A reporter was preparing for her live shot, and the photog/tech preparing the truck on a clear day. The tech had parked the truck on the same side of the street as the telephone poles and raised the mast into the overhead lines. He was jolted and burned from the contact with the energized truck, and the reporter saw his reaction to the electricity. She ran over to help him. As with many who try and rescue a person involved in similar incidents, she also became involved with the electrical energy and was far more seriously injured as she ran into the danger zone, falling, her head hitting the energized truck, causing her to conduct the voltage through her head to her grounded feet.

On a clear day, a reporter and photog/tech with a combined 40+ years of industry news experience parked a truck on the same side of the road as huge power lines, not knowing it is illegal to raise an elevated structure within 10 feet of any overhead line. The mast was raised into the lines, electrifying the truck. The reporter was told by a local business employee and police officer to get out of the truck. She grabbed the door with her left hand and stepped out on her right foot, causing burns so extensive she lost both that arm and the leg she stepped onto the ground with.