MARCH 16, 2015
NORTH PHILADELPHIA, PA
Two Philadelphia firefighters were injured when their ladder
came in contact with a high voltage line while fighting a fire. NBC10's
Rosemary Connors reports that one of the firefighters injured suffered third
degree burns. (Published Monday, Mar 16, 2015)
Two firefighters were shocked after fighting a blaze in
North Philadelphia Monday morning.
The firefighters were pulling a metal ladder away from the
roof of a home along the 2400 block of West Norris Street around 10 a.m. when
it hit a high-voltage power line, Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer
said.
Electricity shot down the aluminum ladder and into
firefighters Robert Taylor and Eugene Coulter.
Taylor, a 14-year veteran, suffered third-degree burns to
his foot, officials said.
“He hit that first electrical hot wire and his body just
stiffened up and he fell right back," witness Rodney Whetstone told NBC10.
Taylor landed on a discarded mattress along the sidewalk.
Coulter, a 9-year veteran, also suffered minor injuries.
Both were rushed to Temple University Hospital in stable condition.
“When there’s a fire,
we can’t sit and wait for PECO to turn off the electric. We have to go and
service, search, extinguish the fire," Sawyer said. The men were following
protocol, he added.
The house fire was minor and brought under control in four
minutes. No one was hurt inside the home.
Coulter was to be released from the hospital Monday evening,
while Taylor is staying overnight in the hospital's burn unit for observations.
“This could have been a much worse incident when you think
about it. So those members are blessed. And like I said we operate in this
environment every single day," Sawyer said.
Source: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com