UPDATE: Coworker tried to help injured DelDOT worker
Story Location:
Milton, DE 19968
United States
A Delaware Department of Transportation worker mowing grass was electrocuted when the tractor he was driving hit a wire.
Officials said DelDOT maintenance worker Eric Givens, 24, of Laurel, was working near a power line near Log Cabin Hill and Hudson roads when he hit a guy wire attached to a power line pole.
Givens got out of the tractor and tried to shake the wire, said Cpl. Jeffrey Hale of the Delaware State Police. While he was trying to free the wire, Hale said, it made contact with a live electrical wire, electrocuting Givens and knocking him to the ground. A coworker contacted 911 and tried to help Givens until emergency medics arrived, Hale said. Givens was taken to Beebe Medical Center in Lewes but did not survive the accident.
Givens had worked at the DelDOT Ellendale yard since August 2010.
“We are all saddened by this tragedy, and our hearts go out to Eric’s family and many friends,” said Transportation Secretary Shailen Bhatt. “By necessity, many of DelDOT’s employees routinely operate equipment and work in locations that involve significant risk. This is why safety is always our chief priority, and why we deeply appreciate the work our employees do every day for the people of Delaware.”
The incident also caused a power outage; Rob Book, spokesman for the Delaware Electric Cooperative, estimated the outage affected 955 Delaware Electric Cooperative homes mostly in the Cool Spring area. Power was restored by 11:18 a.m., he said.
"The guy wire flew up into the primary overhead line and shorted a few circuits out," he said.
About 4,800 homes using Delmarva Power also lost power, said Matt Likovich, spokesman for Delmarva Power. Power was restored by 11:30 a.m., he said.
Delmarva Power and the Delaware co-op have their own substations, but the transmission lines meet at certain points in the county, Likovich said.
As a result, customers from both companies experienced power outages during the incident, he said.
A system of breakers works to protect the lines and lets the power companies know there's an interruption in the current.
"If something stays on the line for so many seconds, the breaker trips," Likovich said.
