ATLANTA — A construction worker suffered severe burns after he was shocked by power lines while on the job.
Crews first responded to a job site on Lindsay Street in northwest Atlanta around 8 a.m.
The worker was on the third floor on a 35-foot scaffold, which was just inches away from the top power line.
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“It shocked me ‘cause (it’s) something (I’ve) never seen before,” said Kenneth Grifin.
Grifin lives across the street. He said he heard the jolt first and then saw the construction worker trying to hang a blue tarp near the top of the building.
“Big ol’ boom … came across like this and hit him … like a bolt of lightning and he fell," Grifin said.
The first crews who arrived on the scene found the challenge of no stairs and the high-voltage power lines.
“From Georgia Power, they said that is in range of 11,400 volts,” Battery Chief Taurus Durrah said.
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The shocked worker was still conscious and talking but had severe third-degree burns.
“I turned around, he was laying down. … I went in house and got him a pillow to kinda hold his head up," Grifin said.
Firefighters quickly called in a tower and special operation unit trained in high-angle rescue to bring the man down the ladder.
“Teams got in, did a great job,” Durrah said. “Phenomenal job accessing the situation, getting to the patient and able to get him extricated from the building.”
The victim is now at Grady Memorial Hospital.