Man, 75, electrocuted
By Amanda Keister
The Daily Item
SELINSGROVE — A borough man was killed Saturday afternoon after being electrocuted on his property.
Witnesses told police that Robert Wagner, 75, of 441 Orange St., was attempting to right a citizens band radio antenna that had begun to lean away from his home over the past several days, Selinsgrove Police Department Officer Eric Mouery said. From the ground, he apparently jostled it enough that it fell onto power lines that run along Mill Street.
The initial impact did not immediately shock Mr. Wagner, Mr. Mouery said. According to witnesses, Mr. Wagner stood under the power lines as electricity arched from the base of the CB antenna. It was then that he was electrocuted.
"It appears he actually would have had an opportunity to get away, which is the really sad thing," Mr. Mouery said.
Dalton Savidge, of PPL Electric Utilities, said about 12,000 volts of electricity would have been running through the lines at the time of the incident, which was around 2:09 p.m.
Fire and rescue crews were called to the scene about five minutes later, but stood helpless for about 20 minutes, Selinsgrove Deputy Fire Chief Dawayne Betzer said, until PPL could confirm that all power to the line had been cut.
"The reason why we didn't go in and get him was because of the risk to us," Mr. Betzer said.
Mr. Wagner's bright orange baseball cap and one glove remained on the ground where he fell — just a few feet from his back door — as smoke trailed from the base of the home's mailbox. He was eventually taken to a nearby ambulance, where he was pronounced dead at about 2:39 p.m.
About 2,100 homes were without power Saturday afternoon, Mr. Savidge said, and residents wandered around the intersection of Mill and Orange streets to find out what the source of the outage was. Firefighters were soon called to a home at 802 University Ave. for a flooded basement because power to the home's sump pump has been cut. By Saturday evening, John Levitski, of PPL, said all power had been restored.
Fire and rescue personnel from Selinsgrove, Hummels Wharf and Shamokin Dam responded to the scene, as well as DH&L ambulance.
By Amanda Keister
The Daily Item
SELINSGROVE — A borough man was killed Saturday afternoon after being electrocuted on his property.
Witnesses told police that Robert Wagner, 75, of 441 Orange St., was attempting to right a citizens band radio antenna that had begun to lean away from his home over the past several days, Selinsgrove Police Department Officer Eric Mouery said. From the ground, he apparently jostled it enough that it fell onto power lines that run along Mill Street.
The initial impact did not immediately shock Mr. Wagner, Mr. Mouery said. According to witnesses, Mr. Wagner stood under the power lines as electricity arched from the base of the CB antenna. It was then that he was electrocuted.
"It appears he actually would have had an opportunity to get away, which is the really sad thing," Mr. Mouery said.
Dalton Savidge, of PPL Electric Utilities, said about 12,000 volts of electricity would have been running through the lines at the time of the incident, which was around 2:09 p.m.
Fire and rescue crews were called to the scene about five minutes later, but stood helpless for about 20 minutes, Selinsgrove Deputy Fire Chief Dawayne Betzer said, until PPL could confirm that all power to the line had been cut.
"The reason why we didn't go in and get him was because of the risk to us," Mr. Betzer said.
Mr. Wagner's bright orange baseball cap and one glove remained on the ground where he fell — just a few feet from his back door — as smoke trailed from the base of the home's mailbox. He was eventually taken to a nearby ambulance, where he was pronounced dead at about 2:39 p.m.
About 2,100 homes were without power Saturday afternoon, Mr. Savidge said, and residents wandered around the intersection of Mill and Orange streets to find out what the source of the outage was. Firefighters were soon called to a home at 802 University Ave. for a flooded basement because power to the home's sump pump has been cut. By Saturday evening, John Levitski, of PPL, said all power had been restored.
Fire and rescue personnel from Selinsgrove, Hummels Wharf and Shamokin Dam responded to the scene, as well as DH&L ambulance.