From DPPD:
Dawson PPD journeyman lineman, Kurtis Keaschall, was injured in an accident on Wednesday, June 6.
"We continue our thoughts and prayers for Kurtis' recovery," says General Manager Robert Heinz. "And we would like to share more information from our investigation."
Keaschall was retiring a power line that had delivered power to a farm building site no longer used by the customer. When a service is retired, the wire and equipment are taken off the poles and everything is removed from the customer's property.
Keaschall was in the aerial device of the bucket truck to remove the hardware from the poles. The fiberglass constructed bucket Keaschall was standing in broke away from the boom, causing him to fall approximately 25 feet to the ground below.
A second Dawson PPD employee was on the scene when the accident occurred. The employee, a consumer services engineer, was there to record the items that were going to be taken out of service. After Keaschall fell, the employee followed Dawson PPD's mayday procedure to summon emergency personnel.
Dawson PPD has an ongoing maintenance program for all of its fleet vehicles, including a twice annual professional inspection of the aerial device on each bucket truck. The truck had been in service since 2005.
The complete vehicle service record is being provided to investigators.
"We take safety very seriously," says Heinz, General Manager. "If any of our employees detect a potential safety problem with a piece of equipment, they have the authority to take the equipment out of service. We had no indication that there was a problem with this bucket. The investigation will continue."
