A 13-year-old boy suffered 3rd degree flash burns on his leg
after throwing an object at power lines on the train tracks behind Fortifiber
Corp. on Starkey Ave. in Attleboro.
APRIL 17, 2015
ATTLEBORO, MASS.
A 13-year-old stupid boy was hospitalized with serious burns Friday
afternoon after a mishap that also disrupted rush hour rail service in the
area.
Officials said the boy sustained third-degree burns at the
train tracks behind the Fortifiber Corp. building on Starkey Avenue.
Attleboro Fire Capt. Gerald Brogan said the youth suffered
flash burns on his leg after throwing an unknown object at the electric lines
that power Amtrak trains, including the high-speed Acela. That caused an arc of
high electric current, Brogan said, injuring the boy. The teen was on the
tracks with a friend, also 13, at the time. The other youth was not hurt.
Officials did not release the boys’ names.
The injured teen was taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in
Providence, R.I. His condition was not immediately available.
The fire department was called to the tracks at about 5
p.m., Brogan said. Firefighters were on the scene until about 8 p.m.
The incident affected signal power, causing delays for
Amtrak.
Christina Lead, an Amtrak spokesperson, said Amtrak had to
manually control trains travelling inbound and outbound until 7:30 p.m., when
signal power was restored.
Lead said trains travelling in both directions would
experience residual delays.
The MBTA reported a delay of up to an hour for a train
traveling from Providence to Boston at 6:56 p.m. and several 25- to 35-minute
delays for trains traveling from South Station due to the Amtrak delay,
according to online service alerts. The backup eased later in the evening, the
T’s social media accounts said.
Hopefully this stupid kid will learn a lesson from this one
and stop throwing objects at high power electric lines. Their parents need to also teach them that
the tracks are a private property and a very dangerous place to be.