Posted on 04/26/2006 1:44:26 PM PDT by aomagrat
A Sumter man was severely burned late Sunday night after he reportedly climbed an electrical pole to try and steal copper wire.
Authorities said Herbert Wayne Odom, 34, of 306 E. Charlotte Ave. was taken to Tuomey Regional Medical Center and later flown by helicopter to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga., following the 9:30 p.m. incident.
"There's fluid around his heart, and he's burnt up pretty good," said a man who only wanted to be identified as Odom's brother. "We're not sure if he's going to make it."
His condition could not be determined as of late Monday night.
A Sumter Police report said officers responded to the 700 block of Broad Street to find a semi-conscious Odom trapped between two transformers.
It's not known how long Odom was trapped before rescue crews arrived to free him, but the report said officers left the incident scene about four hours after they were called in.
Police said a ladder, rubber and garden gloves, vice grips and a wrench were seized from the scene.
Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson said most people generally steal copper wire from construction sites and don't risk the chance of being injured by climbing an electrical pole.
"In my experience, this is the first time I've heard of anything like this happening," she said.
Theft of copper wire and aluminum is on the rise, authorities said, because it can be sold at high market prices. The increase, officials have said, is fueled in part by a building boom in China that has pushed the demand for copper and aluminum to historic highs.
Police said during a search of Odom's home, they found a pile of stripped copper wire in his back yard.
Patterson said Odom has not been charged in the incident, but his girlfriend, Rebecca E. Greggs, 43, of 1540 N. Main St. was arrested after she reportedly told officers she dropped her boyfriend off on Broad Street and was told to come pick him back up.
She is being held at Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing, a jail spokesman said Monday.
** Wayne Alert **
Attentive freepers will note the middle name. It's a real killer.
"a man who only wanted to be identified as Odom's brother."
This is my brother Earl, and this is my other brother Earl.
Ditto.
I'd gauge this as the reaction of someone who's been insulated from reality for far too long.
(added keyword "WAYNE")
OK, I'll bite. What's the significance of "Wayne"?
I'm very surprised he lived after making contact with a high voltage line. Most don't.
The voltage he contacted was most likely 7200 volts... that's a lotta juice! Remember, that's the usual voltage, per wire, you have strung on the power pole outside your house... if there is 3 wires (if 4, ones a nuetral usually strung below the 3 wires) the voltage is 12,740 volts!
Best watch out you never accidentally contact these wires while putting up an antenna, ladder,(ANYTHING!!! You might never be the same!
Supposedly, any criminal in Texas has "Wayne" somewhere in his name.
Wayne Wayne Wayne, Jr. was kinda destined to become a serial killer.
I wish someone familiar with that type of work could provide a definitive answer, but where I’ve been remotely associated with electrical things I’ve always been under the impression that the ~0.4kV to 400 kV stuff was some sort of aluminum. ACSR was “aluminum conductor steel reinforced” and I recall seeing a lot of it. Also have seen AAC (all aluminum conductor?) and AAAC-6201(?) which was supposed to be “all aluminum alloy conductor 6200-whatever.”
I could easily be wrong - and it could also be a regional thing, I guess – but I’ve watched them tear down old lines and put up new stuff and they claimed it was all some sort of aluminum or aluminum alloy. That’s how I remember things.
The man's lawyers are trying to decide whether to sue Thomas Edison's estate, or Francisco D'Anconia.....
"Arc flash is the official name; it is brief, intense, lethal and vaporizes metal in the process.
Patterson said Odom has not been charged in the incident, but his girlfriend, Rebecca E. Greggs, 43, of 1540 N. Main St. was arrested after she reportedly told officers she dropped her boyfriend off on Broad Street and was told to come pick him back up.
She is being held at Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing, a jail spokesman said Monday.
I feel like I'm missing something here.
Patterson said Odom has not been charged in the incident...
I'd say he was very CHARGED
Patterson said Odom has not been charged in the incident...
I'd say he was very CHARGED
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Not really, he was discharged just as fast as he was charged. The human body makes a poor capacitor.
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