Cardinal Communications, LLC

An employee was on the ground, spotting a co-worker who was installing a fiber-optic cable while elevated in a bucket truck. As the strand of cable was raised, an attenuator snapped off the power pole with the 14.4 kV power line still attached and the power line fell onto the boom arm of the bucket truck. The truck became energized and caught on fire. The employee tried to bring their co-worker down but their hands and body were drawn against the controls of the truck and then the employee was thrown to the ground. The employee sustained electrical and thermal burns to over 75 percent of their body.