Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126063288 - Kabc-Tv

Inspection Information - Office: Los Angeles District Office

Investigation Summary

A police department was setting up a baby car seat check operation and had issued a press release. Several television stations dispatched mobile news vans, and they were setting up operations. An employee (Employee #1) from one of the vans began setting up her van and antenna. She looked up, saw an overhead power line, and decided not to raise the antenna there. She then parked on a concrete apron that was on a 4.8-degree angle, leaning toward the street. The side of the van was approximately 300 millimeters to the side of the 34.5-kilovolt power line and 12.4 meters below it. Employee #1 exited the van and raised the antenna. Because the truck was on an angle, the antenna dish contacted the power line just as a second employee (Employee #2) exited the van. Employee #1 received an electric shock. She was treated at a hospital and released. Employee #2 received an electric shock and sustained third-degree burns to her hands, feet, and arms. She was transferred to the a burn center, where she subsequently had her left hand, right foot, toes on her right foot, and some fingers on her right hand amputated. An electric arc also jumped from the right front tire to a copper hose bib 760 millimeters to the right of the van. The resultant heat and pressure caused the water main inside a nearby body shop to explode.

Keywords: BURN, AMPUTATED, OVERHEAD POWER LINE, ELECTRICAL, BOOM, E GI IA, ELECTRIC SHOCK, ANTENNA, HAND, FOOT