Darwinism @ work #454

Man electrocuted while trying to steal copper wire from electrical station

By Tim Woods Tribune-Herald staff writer

Saturday, December 24, 2005

A man was electrocuted by 69,000 volts of electricity after he tried to
steal copper wire from an electrical substation near Bellmead on Friday.

The man, who police have yet to identify, was cutting the copper wire off
functional transformers at the substation behind the old General Tire plant
on U.S. Highway 77, about a half mile north of Orchard Lane shortly after
noon when he was hit by the surge, according to Steve Anderson of the Waco
Police Department.

The Waco Fire Department was called at 12:28 p.m. to put out a small grass
fire at the location, presumably ignited by the electrical surge, and found
the man's body near the transformer, Anderson said.

The amount of electricity pumped through the man was so powerful that it
blew the man out of one of his shoes and threw him several feet from the
transformer, Anderson said.

Anderson said that he was told by a TXU employee at the scene that the man
"never even knew what hit him" and was killed instantly. That was confirmed
by TXU district manager Tony Flores, who said that the power lines that run
in front of people's houses - carrying either 7,200 or 14,000 volts - are
more than potent enough to be lethal.

"It's like a blast of fire going through you, essentially," Flores said.

Anderson said he was amazed at the man's disregard of posted warning signs.

"If you're going to be stupid, you'd better be tough," he said.

Flores said the substation belongs to the owner of the General Tire plant,
which has been closed since the mid-1980s, and not to TXU.

The man was apparently stealing strips of copper wire from the facility,
Anderson said, as investigators found about a dozen strips of the copper
wire and wire cutters near the man's body. Copper theft has become more and
more common lately as copper prices have seen a marked increase of late.

"I don't know what (the amount of copper the man had) is worth," Anderson
said. "I know it's not worth his life."

twoods@xxxxxxxxxxxx

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