11.10.2017

Shocked and burnt

A man was badly burnt on Tuesday when the platform of the boom lift he was using came into contact with an overhead power line in Sarasota, Florida.

The man - named as Omri Snow, 23, - was using an articulated JLG boom lift to hang banners on street lighting poles, that run parallel with, and just below the power lines. In spite of having a spotter on the ground to warn him, he clearly either came into contact with the power lines or the electricity bridged/jumped the gap, causing the boom lift to catch fire. An initial report said that a power line had fallen onto the platform, but that may have arisen from the fact that a power line was lying in the road after the incident, but it may have come down after the fire took hold and burnt it?
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The scene sometime after the injured man had been rescued

The boom lift burnt ferociously as the fuel and hydraulic oil were ignited by the burning tyres and plastic. All the while Snow was trapped in the platform at a height of around six metres.

We understand that the power line was quickly de-energised and that the emergency services were on site within six minutes of being dispatched. Once the flames were extinguished Snow was airlifted to a local hospital where his condition is said to be serious.