Man Electrocuted while trying to steal copper wire

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.”


*** That sounds pretty painful!!