Two civilian would-be rescuers electrocuted, cop & 5 others shocked after SUV wreck in Los Angeles. Hydrant sheared & power lines downed.
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Two women were electrocuted Wednesday night after responding to the scene of a crash in Valley Village where a vehicle slammed into a fire hydrant and a utility pole, according to Erik Scott with LA Fire Department.
Eight people in total were injured, Scott said. Six of them were transported to the hospital. Details regarding their conditions were not available early Thursday.
The driver of the vehicle was hospitalized, but his condition was not immediately known, said Capt. Peter Whittingham, with LAPD North Hollywood.
The single-vehicle crash happened around 8:30 p.m. on the 12000 block of Magnolia Boulevard near Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Authorities said the driver lost control of his vehicle when he attempted to make a turn from Magnolia Boulevard.
A woman who lived in a nearby residence rushed out to help the driver, was shocked by water energized by the power line and later died. A husband and wife passing by in a vehicle stopped to help.
The vehicle ran off the roadway and collided with a fire hydrant and a light pole on the northwest corner of Ben Avenue and Magnolia.
Authorities said the light pole he hit was an old-fashioned concrete standard, and when it went down, it left behind electrical wires sticking out of the ground.The live wires made contact with water gushing from the fire hydrant, and the growing pool of water became electrified.
“One of those victims was a neighbor. She was a resident who lived very close by. Maybe across the street. The other, as I understand it, was a husband and wife traveling in the same direction of the vehicle, and they came out to help the first lady who went down. They attempted to rescue the first woman. And in the process, she too, was electrocuted,” LAPD Capt. Peter Whittingham said.
“I saw two women laying on the sidewalk. And I saw three men trying to pull them away to safety, but they kept getting shocked. And I saw the women barely moving and then they were still,” witness James Pike said.
At least five people, including one police officer, were shocked and required treatment, says Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department. One person was treated on scene.
Skyler Maxon, 23, and his twin brother, Beau, who live near the intersection, heard the accident and rushed out of their apartment. By the time they got outside, one woman had already been injured by the water that had gushed out of the hydrant and come into contact with downed power lines, Skyler Maxon said.
“She was lying on her back next to the hydrant and we were talking to her to see if she was conscious,” the young man said. “My brother reached out and touched her and that’s when he found out she’d been electrocuted. He was shocked too and he just fell back.”
Maxon said he and another man pulled his brother out of the water. “We were all in the water but he was touching her,” he said.
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