Thursday morning at 9:52 am, Portland firefighters responded to 550 SE 130th Ave. on the report of a man that had been electrocuted still hanging in a tree. Firefghters arrived to find powerlines arcing, in a tree, with a man hanging by a safety rope.
The man who is an Arborist was conscious and alert and told firefighters, “If I touch anything I get a shock.”. Lt. Klug of Truck 7 talked to the man to calm him, and let him know what the plan of action would be.
Apparently the whole tree was energized with electricity, and a rescue attempt would expose firefighters to electrocution. The Arborist was cold and tired, but the only course of action available to firefighters was to wait for PGE to deenergize the powerlines.
A PGE representative arrived a short time later and removed a limb that had fallen into the powerline and was conducting electricity to the entire tree.
Once the power was shut off the Arborist climbed down and was checked by paramedics. He had no injuries and refused transport to the hospital.