Two Electrocuted While Painting Home
tinydancer
By Tim Nelson
A day on the job proved deadly for two local painters. The men were
electrocuted while completing renovations to a Durham home on North Buchanan
Boulevard.
Paint buckets indicate work still needs to be done on the house, but when
and if it resumes, it will be minus two men who became the victims of an
accident.
Paramedics' efforts weren't enough to save the two men, who police say were
electrocuted when the 32-foot aluminum ladder they were moving came in
contact with live power lines above.
As of Thursday night, they are identified only as painters working for a
local contractor. One man was taken to Durham Regional, the other to Duke
Hospital. Each was pronounced dead Thursday evening. Duke power officials
arrived at the scene for a look at the wires that caused the deaths.
Within what appears to be nothing more than a tragic accident, there is a
lesson here -- a painful reminder for us all. "They are certainly live
wires, and no layperson ever needs to assume any wire is anything other than
a hazard and something they need to stay away from."
Police say more than 7,000 volts of electricity were sent through the body
of each painter once aluminum hit wire. There was nothing they could do. The
message to remember: look up and live. "Anyone that's using a ladder of any
type, certainly an extension ladder, needs to be aware of what's around them
and particularly above them.
OSHA will be looking into the incident, as will the Department of Labor.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/news/103003_NW_electrocution.html
Chocolic
"tinydancer" <tinyd...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Qflob.2428$un....@bignews6.bellsouth.net...
Gawd, you post this at a time my husb and I are pondering the pros and cons
of painting our own house this spring, or hiring it done to the tune of
$3,000+.
Chocolic
tinydancer
"Chocolic" <chatt...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bqmob.21903$Ec1.1...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
We are fortunate to have all our wires underground here.
td
>
>
d~
wrote:
>Gawd, you post this at a time my husb and I are pondering the pros and cons
>of painting our own house this spring, or hiring it done to the tune of
>$3,000+.
that's CHEAP! go ahead and hire it out!
d~ (hubby worked his way through grad school painting)