Drunk man killed trying to saw through live power line (2009 Darwin Award Candidate)

KOMO TV (Seattle) ^ | 6/29/09

[llevrok]

POND EDDY, N.Y. - New York authorities say a man was fatally electrocuted early Saturday when he tried to cut through a downed power line with an industrial saw.

Authorities say the 64-year-old Pond Eddy man was drunk and ignored repeated orders to stay away from the cable.

The accident happened in the presence of firefighters who had been guarding the fallen line.

The Sullivan County public safety commissioner says officials chased the man away from the line several times before he fetched the saw from his house.

Authorities say the line fell in a storm yesterday and had been down for about seven hours while utility crews tended to damage elsewhere.

[llevrok]

There's yur sign......

[machogirl]

I’ll bet his family is lining (no pun intended) up an attorney as I type this.

[lilylangtree]

One less idiot to inhabit the gene pool.

[villagerjoel]

“We just figured he was going to do it anyway, so we gave up trying to stop him...”

[Izzy Dunne]

fatally electrocuted

Is there any other kind?

After all, it's short for ELECTRical exeCUTION.

[Red Badger]

fatally electrocuted?..........as opposed to NOT fatally electrocuted?...............

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

I wonder if his being dead disqualifies him from serving as Czar of Electrical Energy?

[Izzy Dunne]

One less idiot to inhabit the gene pool.

At 64, he's probably already swum and dried off by now.

[jakerobins]

I guess he couldn’t come up with a better way to CUT his Power Bills....

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Shocking!!!!

[The Pack Knight]

That couldn’t have been pretty. Reminds me of that video on youtube of the Indian standing on top of an electric train and grabbing the overhead line.

[ConservativeMan55]

BTTT

[Leisler]

The insulated housing on say a sawzall is good for 110v, maybe 220. The power line on a street might be 13,000 volts. That would power through thin plastic like a red hot knife through a half of a butter patty.

[Hacklehead]

Stupid, active and persistent is a really bad combination.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Shocking!!!!

This should have been posted under "current events".

[RepublitarianRoger2]

The accident happened

How do you accidentally saw through a power line?

[COBOL2Java]

fatally electrocuted?..........as opposed to NOT fatally electrocuted?...............

Kind of like an idiot reporterette on the news who said that Billy Mays "woke up dead"...

[neocon1984]

As my wife usually says when something like this happens, “That’s how we thin the herd”.

[b4its2late]

If he has kids, he’s not eligible for a Darwin Award, since he already polluted the gene pool. But if not, he’s a shoe in!

[Red Badger]

Don’t you just hate it when that happens?...............

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

Those types of comments are revolting.

Watts your problem?

[Joe 6-pack]

"Those types of comments are revolting."

Guilty as....charged ;-)

[netmilsmom]

Actually, electrocute is not always fatal electrocute e·lec·tro·cute [ i léktrə kyt ] (past and past participle e·lec·tro·cut·ed, present participle e·lec·tro·cut·ing, 3rd person present singular e·lec·tro·cutes) transitive verb Definition: 1. injure or kill with electric shock: to cause injury or death with an electric shock 2. execute in the electric chair: to execute somebody by means of the electric chair

[the long march]

But of course alcohol had to be involved

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Especially when mixed with “drunk”.

[hoosier hick]

The accident happened in the presence of firefighters who had been guarding the fallen line.

Kind of hard to figure how this is an "accident." Looks intentional to me.... hh

[Jeffrey_D.]

No . . .
You don’t touch a downed power line and you don’t fight off some idiot with a “running” chainsaw!!

[Tailback]

I see this all the time. I work for my County Public Works Dept. Every year we have high wind storms and/or flooding and have to close roads. I can’t count the times I’ve seen people walk on or around downed power lines or drive through “road closed” signs with us screaming and waving them away.

I just call it evolution in action.

[garyhope]

I have a feeling that he was sawing AND holding his beer at the same time.

[RepublitarianRoger2]

Haha...that reminds me of one of my favorite newspaper headlines: “Man struck by lightning now faces battery charge”

[Alex Murphy]

New York authorities say a man was fatally electrocuted early Saturday when he tried to cut through a downed power line with an industrial saw.

Authorities say the 64-year-old Pond Eddy man was drunk and ignored repeated orders to stay away from the cable.

The accident happened in the presence of firefighters who had been guarding the fallen line.

[the long march]

of course I prefer Merriam's since it is a real dictionary. elec·tro·cute Listen to the pronunciation of electrocute Pronunciation: \i-ˈlek-trə-ˌkyüt\ Function: transitive verb Inflected Form(s): elec·tro·cut·ed; elec·tro·cut·ing Etymology: electr- + -cute (as in execute) Date: 1889 1 : to execute (a criminal) by electricity 2 : to kill by electric shock wiktionary is as flawed as wikipedia

[DuncanWaring]

I wonder if his being dead disqualifies him from serving as Czar of Electrical Energy?

Probably, but it doesn't disqualify him from voting Democrat.

[Nik Naym]

Ohm My! This is a shocking story.

Oh well. I guess that is watt happens when somebody gets all amped up on alcohol and pulls out a chain saw.

I suppose that the power company is insulated against a lawsuit in this case, since the “victim” was repeatedly warned off, but is now dead due to his own resistance.

If this were to somehow turn into a wrongful death charge against the power company I would think the jury would volt to dismiss the case. (Thus,it would be discharged)

[villagerjoel]

“...you don’t fight off some idiot with a “running” chainsaw!!”

Point taken.

[PLMerite]

“Authorities say the line fell in a storm yesterday and had been down for about seven hours while utility crews tended to damage elsewhere.”

Not to excuse the guy’s stupidity, but isn’t seven hours a tad long for a downed line to remain live ?

[Choose Ye This Day]

Zot.

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

I wonder if his being dead disqualifies him from serving as Czar of Electrical Energy?

"Probably, but it doesn't disqualify him from voting Democrat.

Unfortunately, you observation is not a joke.

[knarf]

Oh Geoooorge ?
Yes, Gracie?
You know how you're always complaining about our electric bill ... that it's too high and we need to cut down our use of electricity?

yes ??

Well .. I saved us a lot of money today
Oh? .. and How'dyou do that?

I cut the cord on the vacuum cleaner so it wouldn't use as much

!!!!

[Oldpuppymax]

I’ll bet his family is lining (no pun intended) up an attorney as I type this.

You beat me to it!

[peace with honor]

ROFLMAO!!!!!! Great Post

[Vaquero]

‘Ole Sparky’

[MediaMole]

It can certainly happen.

It would be even funnier if the cops had come and Tazed the guy when he persisted in trying to cut the line. Can hear people complaining about how the guy didn’t need to be Tazed since he wasn’t a danger to himself or others.

[Star Traveler]

Being drunk will kill you sometimes... :-)

[netmilsmom]

You got it.

Apparently the writer in this article was using wiktionary!

[Sunshine Sister]

Very clever. Thanks for the laugh!

[RichInOC]

ZOT!

[machogirl]

For once I’m first? :)

[llevrok]

one of the greatest comedy teams in history!

George, "I had the easiest job in show business. All I had to say to Gracie was, ' So how's your uncle?' and she'd go on for 20 minutes!"

[cynwoody]

More details here:

Sullivan man dies from electrocution after cutting live power line with a saw

4800v. They had to let him fry until utility workers could be summoned to turn off the juice.