I would have made this a Doofus Of The Day post, except that a man died, and I try not to be too crass in my humor (almost overwhelming though the temptation may be in this case . . . ).
Authorities say a drunken 64-year-old man died from electrocution early Saturday morning when he stood in a puddle and cut a live power line with an industrial saw.
Firefighters who had been guarding the line for about seven hours repeatedly told Mieczyskaw Mil to stay away from it, but the highly intoxicated man grew frustrated, fetched a circular saw from his house and began to cut the line. Sullivan County (NY) Undersheriff Eric Chaboty said that Mil was standing in a puddle of water while he cut the hissing, buzzing power line.
The transmission line sent roughly 4,800 volts of electricity through Mil’s body. Authorities said the man fell onto the line, became tangled in it and was killed by continuous electrocution. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Emergency responders could not remove the man’s body until Orange & Rockland utility workers shut down the power line.
“We did everything we could,” said Dick Martinkovic, commissioner of public safety in Sullivan County. “Police were there, firefighters were there, and they chased him away, literally, a couple times.”
There's more at the link.
What am I bet that the late Mr. Mil's family are already preparing a lawsuit against the authorities, trying to blame them for not preventing him behaving like that?
Peter
3 comments:
The family will probably also sue the circular saw manufacturer for making a battery operated saw that works when the power is down.
Darwin Award!
The reporter and the editor don't seem to know what electrocute means, or they wouldn't keep using phrases like, "killed from continuous electrocution."
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