Abstract: At 9:15 a.m. on May 25, 2012, an employee was working for a highway paving firm in upstate New York. The firm had placed a number of Ingersoll Rand temporary light towers by the side of the road. The employee was assigned to take down five and return them to the rental facility that owned them. The employee was lowering them. The employee lowered three towers and returned them to the rental facility. The fourth tower was placed directly below a 7,620 volt phase-to-ground overhead power line. In order to disengage the light towers locking system, the tower first had to be cranked up to release the lock. As the tower was being extended, it came into contact with one of the overhead phase conductors. The light tower caught fire, and the employee was electrocuted. The fire continued to burn for approximately an hour, as the fire department could not fight the fire until the power lines owner, National Grid, shut down the power to the lines.