On Wednesday, February 27, at 9:40 AM, a call into the OCD Dispatch Center indicated that a person was possibly electrocuted on a construction site. The second call from a contractor at the site, provided much needed information.
A worker in the bucket of a “cherry picker” had come in contact with high tension wires and the condition of the worker was unknown. 1 Company of Los Angeles Firefighters, 1 LAFD Rescue Ambulance, DOT and DWP, responded to reports of Wires Down at 3401 S. Via Dolce in the Venice area.
The responding units found a female welder with high tension wires draped across the utility bucket, located approximately 40 feet above ground at the site of a luxury apartment construction site.
Truck 63 used its aerial to assess the condition of the trapped worker as DWP workers re-routed power from the construction site. The one hour and twenty three minute safely coordinated effort between DWP and the LAFD, enabled power to be restored with only ten customers experiencing service interruption.
The extremely lucky worker maneuvered the utility bucket down safely, was evaluated by paramedics for injury and released at the scene.