Turlock man fishing near Los Banos hit by falling power line

A man who just weeks before relocated from Livermore to Turlock got a jarring welcome to the area when he was struck by a falling power line while fishing at the O’Neill Forebay west of Los Banos.

It was about 4 p.m. Tuesday when Donald Mills and his cousin Michael Lund of Livermore were settling in to fish at the forebay, on the east side of Highway 152, east of San Luis Reservoir in Merced County.

Mills said he had just cast his line and set his pole along the shore. While walking up the bank toward a picnic table, the 54-year-old Navy veteran said he heard a noise and saw a flash of light.

“At the same time, it (the falling power line) hit me on the shoulder and slid down my arm. I don’t know if power came out of my hand or what, but my hand got knocked to the side.

“I looked back and saw the cable continue to fall across the water, like it was boiling across the water, then started moving, sliding toward the picnic table. So I was moving away from it, back away from it.”

From information on a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. website, the line appears to be part of the San Luis Transmission Project. Lund said a PG&E worker who arrived at the scene told him the transmission line carries 70,000 volts.

A PG&E spokesman said Friday afternoon that safety equipment worked as it should, so the line de-energized as soon as it broke. “Electricity essentially travels at the speed of light, so even in the time it takes the line to fall, it is de-energized,” said Denny Boyles.

Lund and Mills said the line snapped across the water from where they were and struck Mills as it slackened. Lund showed photos he took on his phone of the line lying across the picnic table and going into the water near Mills’ fishing pole.

Lund was about 10 yards from his cousin and facing the opposite direction when he said he “heard a splash and a grunt. I turn around and Donnie’s getting up off the rocks and tells me he’s been hit.

“I notice there’s this cable running about 30 feet from me, right next to him, and it’s dragging on the ground and making dust. The water was doing this weird bubbling thing. … I realized it was the cable from up above.”

He called 911 and requested a paramedic, Lund said. An ambulance crew arrived, as did responders from the state Department of Parks and Recreation, the Merced County Fire Department, the California Highway Patrol and PG&E, Lund said.

Mills was put on a stretcher and taken to Memorial Hospital Los Banos. At the least, he suffered abrasions or lacerations to his left shoulder and hand. His hand still was swollen Friday. At the hospital, Mills said, computed tomography scans and X-rays were taken. He was prescribed pain medication and released.

When he was struck by the line, he didn’t lose consciousness, Mills said, but “I was weak, and my whole arm had a burning sensation. … It was hot and stinging.” Asked if the power line would have had any heat to it, Boyles said he did not know but that PG&E is “investigating what happened and will look at all of that.”

There also was no word on why the power line fell.

At the hospital, Mills said, medical staff told him that he was lucky to be alive but also that his injuries did not indicate any burning or other trauma from electricity. “They told me it was a dead line. … But then what was the flash in front of me?”

Lund said he was on the opposite side of the power line from his cousin, so he could not immediately join him at the hospital. “The park department showed up first and told me I couldn’t cross (the power line). I knew that – that was a given. A PG&E guy showed up and was able to clear me to get my gear and go see Donnie. He asked me Donnie’s name and address and phone and mine and told me PG&E would have a supervisor talk with us at the hospital.”

But Lund and Mills said no one talked with them at the hospital or has since. “If he was there, he never said anything to us,” Lund said.

Said Boyles: “Safety is the top priority for us, and we want to make sure we do talk to him.”

Mills, who works as an operating engineer, said he had a follow-up appointment at the Livermore Division of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. “The tests say there was nothing wrong, and she (a doctor there) was telling me there was no muscle swelling, nothing out of place. … But I’m sore. I can move around, but my left hand can’t squeeze too much.”

Jack Harper, superintendent of the state parks Four Rivers Sector, confirmed that rangers responded to Tuesday afternoon’s 911 call and found fire and medical crews already on scene.

“One of those big lines snapped and grazed” Mills, he said. Harper said his understanding is the power lines have ground fault interrupters to cut power and prevent electrical shock.

Merced County Fire Department Battalion Chief Jeremy Rahn said his department also responded. “We sent a couple of engines, which had access issues because of energized power lines,” he said.

He then clarified that he could not say whether the lines were energized or not. “Anytime there are power lines down, we’re going to default to isolating the area. We’re not going take any chances.”

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Turlock man fishing near Los Banos hit by falling power line."