By Paul Peirce
The Tribune-Review
HEMPFIELD, Pa. — Every instinct in Don Thoma — as a neighbor and as a Hempfield Township fire chief — wanted to move a critically injured woman from beneath live power lines as she lay in the yard of her West Hempfield Drive home.
But he and fellow firefighters knew they had to wait.
“I really can’t describe it, but it is terribly gut-wrenching for all of us, and you feel entirely helpless. But you have to wait until the people with the proper equipment arrive or you’ll have more people knocked down and injured,” said Thoma, Adamsburg’s chief for 29 years.
Thoma described the scene when he went outside at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to investigate a power outage in the neighborhood and heard Carrie Goretzka’s cries. Thoma looked two doors down and saw Goretzka, 39, lying underneath still-sparking electrical power lines, crying out for help.
Thoma said Allegheny Power crews arrived within 10 minutes, and Goretzka was airlifted by medical helicopter to UPMC Mercy hospital in Pittsburgh.
She remained in critical condition yesterday in the trauma and burn center, hospital officials said.
“You just try to soothe the victim, tell her not to move and talk to her that help is on the way. But you’ve got to realize if you make one wrong move and go in there, you put a lot of other lives in jeopardy,” Thoma said Wednesday.
“We were able to summon an emergency helicopter, and it was here by the time Allegheny Power crews arrived,” he said.
Goretzka is the mother of two preschool children. Her mother-in-law, Joanne Goretzka, was shocked when she tried to assist, according to authorities. She was treated Tuesday evening at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg.
A Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission spokeswoman said yesterday the agency will look into why Allegheny Power’s 7,200-volt primary distribution line in the West Hempfield neighborhood malfunctioned and fell.
“We are aware of the situation and are looking into it. We will evaluate to see if there were any violations of public utility code or PUC regulations,” said spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher in Harrisburg.
“We’re very much in the preliminary stages of the investigation. In general, the PUC strives that utilities provide reliable and safe service, and that’s what we’ll be looking at,” she said. “I want to add that Allegheny Power has gone through the proper steps notifying us of the incident.”
Kocher said the utility is required to file an initial report on the outage within five days.
Allegheny Power spokesman Doug Colafella said yesterday the cause of the bizarre accident has so far stumped the electric utility investigators.
“Obviously, we are concerned about this incident. But we have not been able to determine yet why that wire failed at the pole,” Colafella said.
He said it is particularly puzzling because the line failed “in the absence of inclement weather.”
“We want to assure the public that this is a very rare incident. We’re going to look at the history of the lines in that area as part of the investigation,” Colafella said. He added there is no timetable to complete the investigation.
Several units from state police in Greensburg were summoned to the scene. Police did not release a report on the incident yesterday.
The victim’s next-door neighbor, Bernadine Collins, of 25 West Hempfield Drive, said neighbors are “very upset” about the incident.
“She and her husband (Michael) and two kids are so sweet. ... It’s really hard to believe something like this would happen. We’re just praying for them,” Collins said.
Collins said she was returning home after her husband’s medical treatment and saw fire trucks blocking the street at her house.
“I saw a big puff of smoke and I thought, ‘Oh my, my house is on fire.’ But it was the wires burning. Oh, it was so horrible. ... She was moaning, and the firemen were trying to comfort her because they weren’t able to help her until the right people arrived,” Collins said.
“It’s my understanding Carrie went outside with her telephone to call the utility after the power went out and the line just fell on her. Oh, I wasn’t able to sleep last night thinking about it, and I can’t talk about it too much,” Collins said.
Collins added that two years ago, a line malfunction caught a tree on fire in their joint backyard.
“It’s just a horrible thing for that family, and everybody in the neighborhood feels for them,” Collins said.
Copyright 2009 Tribune-Review