ALEXANDRIA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Public Information Office
2003 Mill Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
(703) 838-4636
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 3, 2000
Alexandria Police and Fire Investigate an Electrical Explosion
Last night, at approximately 9:15 p.m., investigators with the Alexandria Police and Fire Departments investigated an electrical explosion that occurred in front of police headquarters. A number of news crews were conducting interviews and taping for their late evening news broadcasts when the electrical explosion occurred.
A Fox Channel 5 news truck, occupied by three crew members, had arrived in front of police headquarters at approximately 9:05 p.m. As the camera man began to run electrical wires from the truck to the front sidewalk area, the truck operator was hoisting the mast in order to get a clear signal. The mast inadvertently struck one of the overhead 230,000 volt transmission lines that run above the front parking lot of police headquarters.
As a result of the mast striking the power line, an electrical surge immediately followed delivering a severe electrical shock to a 45-year-old camera man who was positioned approximately 50 feet away from the news truck. The electricity arched at this point and continued its path back to the parked truck delivering an electrical shock to the truck’s operator, a 40-year-old crew member who was positioned inside the vehicle. The third victim, a 30-year-old female, was sitting in the front passenger seat of the truck and was shaken by the jolt and explosion of the electrical current.
The two men were flown to the Washington Hospital Center Burn Unit, and the woman was taken by ambulance to the Alexandria Hospital. The 45-year-old man remains in serious condition and the 40-year-old is in fair condition. The woman was treated and released.
State OSHA officials and the Alexandria Fire Marshal are investigating this incident.
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