Matthew
01-12-2008, 12:09 PM
A Pacific Gas & Electric lineman died Friday after being electrocuted while restoring power to some El Dorado County residents still in the dark after last week's heavy storms.
Felipe Chavez, 31, of Stockton was working on a power pole near Georgetown early Friday afternoon when the accident occurred, said PG&E spokesman Jon Tremayne.
Officials are investigating what caused the accident, Tremayne said.
"Obviously we want to find out exactly what happened so it doesn't happen again," he said.
PG&E leaders called for an emergency "stand-down" Friday evening, calling all crews who were working in Northern California - namely in El Dorado, Placer and Nevada counties - back to their yards to talk about the incident and review safety guidelines. Tremayne said news of the accident spread quickly and affected many of Chavez's coworkers.
"PG&E employees are a pretty tight-knit family," he said. "They take pride in what they do and when something like this happens, it has an incredible emotional impact on the rest of our crews."
He added that line crews perform dangerous duties and called them "heroes."
"Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with (Chavez's) family, his coworkers and his friends as they deal with this tragedy," Tremayne said.
The stand-down ended this morning and crews resumed work.
Felipe Chavez, 31, of Stockton was working on a power pole near Georgetown early Friday afternoon when the accident occurred, said PG&E spokesman Jon Tremayne.
Officials are investigating what caused the accident, Tremayne said.
"Obviously we want to find out exactly what happened so it doesn't happen again," he said.
PG&E leaders called for an emergency "stand-down" Friday evening, calling all crews who were working in Northern California - namely in El Dorado, Placer and Nevada counties - back to their yards to talk about the incident and review safety guidelines. Tremayne said news of the accident spread quickly and affected many of Chavez's coworkers.
"PG&E employees are a pretty tight-knit family," he said. "They take pride in what they do and when something like this happens, it has an incredible emotional impact on the rest of our crews."
He added that line crews perform dangerous duties and called them "heroes."
"Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with (Chavez's) family, his coworkers and his friends as they deal with this tragedy," Tremayne said.
The stand-down ended this morning and crews resumed work.