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Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Burned On A Utility Pole

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Stories about copper and aluminum thieves are becoming quite common place of late. Here in Dallas last month there was one about a thief that was shot by a business owner when the he climbed on the roof to steal tubing from the businesses air conditioning compressor, last week there was one about a Florida man who strapped an entire stolen utility pole to his truck & tried to take it to the recycle center and there are numerious manhole cover theft stories almost weekly. They are becoming so common place I hardly ever notice them anymore. However, when I heard this one on the radio this morning I had to go to their website to make sure I had heard it right.

A man in West Dallas shimmied up a utility pole last night in order to make off with some of the copper wire. During his climb he somehow managed to get himself wedged in between two of the power transformers. Anyone who knows anything about power lines knows that these things get extremely "HOT." They are filled with a heavy oil to act as a cooling agent (it's the oil that causes the fire when one of these things blow).

By the time the police & fire units answered the alarms our hero's clothes had been either burned or blown off by his touching a 7,000 volt line. Although it took some time (his flesh had melted to the transformer) the rescue units were able to free him and take him to the Parkland Hospital burn unit.

He survived his ordeal so an Honorable Mention is the best he can "win" here. However with 3rd degree burns over some 50% of his body maybe "win" isn't exactly the right word to use.

Here's the link to the radio station's news story: http://www.krld.com/Man-Being-Treated-For-Burns-After-Rescued-From-Uti/2709802

Here's a link to a local newspaper site with a lot more details on the incident: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/080208dnmetmanstuck.352a564.html

Submitted on 08/01/2008

Submitted by: David
Reference: http://www.krld.com/Man-Being-Treated-For-Burns-After-Rescued-From-Uti/2709802 1-Aug-2008

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

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Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Another crispy copper criminal for the collection. And frankly, I like this. An excellent write up and _two_ references. Thanks for the great work, David! Please, submit again!


Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Somebody needs to start warning these stupid crooks not to try to steal copper from live power lines. Thanks, David!


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