Man Climbing Transmission Tower Electrocuted, Critically Injured

SONOMA COUNTY, CA -- A man suffered critical burns and other traumatic injuries Tuesday in Santa Rosa when witnesses say he was electrocuted as he climbed a PG&E transmission tower, according to the Santa Rosa Fire Department. The incident was reported at 5:45 p.m. at 56 W. 6th St. as a man who had fallen from a power pole and started a grass fire adjacent to Prince Memorial Greenway/Santa Rosa Creek, Assistant Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal stated in a news release.

The first responding fire crew was on scene within four minutes and found the man on the ground near the tower, Lowenthal said. Prior to the fire department's arrival, good Samaritans had pulled the man from the burning grass and used fire extinguishers to stop the fire, Lowenthal said.

Witnesses described the man being about 80 feet up the 100-foot tower when he was electrocuted and fell to the ground into dry grass, which caught fire, Lowenthal said.

The man, whose name and age were not immediately known, was treated at the scene before being rushed to a local trauma center. Because of the combination of critical burns and trauma he suffered, the man was then flown by REACH air ambulance to UC Davis Medical Center.

Authorities with the Santa Rosa Fire Department, Santa Rosa Police Department and PG&E are investigating the incident as unauthorized entry of the high-voltage transmission tower.

"Due to a previous incident of a person climbing this tower in March of 2017, PG&E added additional barriers to prevent people from climbing the tower," Lowenthal said. "This incident highlights the reason warning signs and barriers are in place to prevent the unauthorized access to PG&E’s transmission towers."

The incident briefly knocked out power to some 2,200 customers.

The fire was relatively small because the vegetation had been cut, Lowenthal said.

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