Tri-City Herald
BENTON COUNTY, Wash. — Officials are trying to determine how a volunteer firefighter was shocked by a downed power line Wednesday while battling a small Finley wildfire.
Ty N. Schoenwald, 22, was flown from a Kennewick hospital to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after the incident, said Capt. Devin Helland, spokesman for Benton Fire District 1. Schoenwald was stable condition Wednesday night and might be released as early as today.
A multi-agency team of local fire officials is investigating. “I don’t know if he came into contact with the wire or was shocked through the ground,” Helland told the Herald. Schoenwald, a Washington State University student and volunteer with District 1, was part of a crew fighting the fire on Game Farm Road, Helland said. The power line was already on the ground when they arrived shortly before 8 a.m.
Full story: Benton County firefighter shocked by power line, taken to hospital