Posted on 06/09/2004 10:24:35 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
HEARNE -- A photojournalist for a Bryan-College Station television station was apparently electrocuted Tuesday after the mast of the station's live van came in contact with high voltage wiring while covering a story about a gas well explosion, the station said. Matt Moore, 23, of Temple, was setting up for a live shot about 6 p.m. in Hearne when he was killed. The KBTX television station employee was dead at the scene, the station said in a news release. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death.
Three other people who were covering the story for KBTX were unharmed, but were taken to a hospital for observation. The death is under investigation. A small fire broke out near the rear of the van after the mast came in contact with the power lines. The gas well explosion in Robertson County injured eight people Tuesday afternoon. Moore, who graduated from Texas A&M University in May 2003, started working at KBTX in September 2003. Funeral arrangements are pending for Moore, who was single.
I feel an Aggie joke coming on. Horrible story.
An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death.
Sometimes ....
but it is the law - an autopsy will be done on any death occuring while NOT in a doctor's care.
I saw this happen once. I'm surprised there's enough left to autopsy.
Um, would someone please wake up the copy editor?
ALWAYS look overhead before raising the mast.
That's horrible.
You'd think they'd have had enough sense to stay away from power lines.
Big story, got excited, forgot. Died. Youthful inexperience.
Better agrument for attaching a chain to the mast that drags the ground.
OUCH.
That's a heck of a learning curve to drive off of..
I have seen what contacting high voltage lines does to a person...it is not a pretty sight.
Would you believe, when I worked for a TV station, we were required to attend training for this EXACT event. They brought a simulation van and everything......
That won't do it...good thought though.
High voltage needs to have a "ground rod" driven into the earth, as far as one can hit it.
The best solution is to look up and avoid the line as far as possible...
Training for that hazard shows that your safety director was spot on!
Having worked with high voltage lines for decades, ( I still have all my fingers and toes!) Safety is the number one job in that business...
Very high voltages run along the surface of the conductor while medium-high (1000-10000V) voltages with current capability run through the conductor creating great heat, enough to ignite many materials.
Still, nothing beats caution.
I think the same thing happened in San Diego a few years ago.
It's not strictly an Aggie problem. KABC 7 up in Los Angeles had one of their reporters severely burned back in 2000 when the newsvan crew ran the microwave antenna boom into some wires.
I never went to any classes, but everybody I worked with would NOT raise the mast if it was going to come ANYWHERE NEAR any wires. This guy had to have cranked up the mast from inside the truck which meant the safeties were disabled. The trucks I ran had safety switches that required you to get out of the truck to activate the mast.
Gee, lemme think...
Voltage above 600 volts is assigned to my old profession: Distribution Power Lineman.
It appears their mast contacted a distribution line. In most of Texas (if these old brain cells still are reliable...LOL!) the distribution consists of delta configuration, (which in my view is a fire waiting to happen, as opposed to "wye" setup).
If the line was an older feeder line, which is quite common in Texas' REA regions, the line could have been a 4160 volt feeder.
The usual situation nowadays is a 7200 volt single phase (which is probably what killed him). It's doubtfull he raised it into a three phase configuration (all three phases each with 7200 volts or what the we call the "12"...or 12,470 volts).
In any event, 4160, or 7200, either one will blow your body apart as it passes through you to ground...hope this helps!
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