BTES lineman electrocuted on Hickory Tree Road

UPDATE by Micheal Owens/ Bristol Herald Courier 11/18/09
BLUFF CITY, Tenn. – Local investigators are still puzzling over how a local utility worker was electrocuted and thrown from a utility pole Tuesday morning.

Bristol Tennessee Essential Services lineman Ronald E. Norris, 34, died while working on a power line behind a home on Hickory Tree Road in Bluff City, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.

Norris, of Bluff City, leaves behind a wife, Jennifer, and two daughters, police said.

A co-worker on a nearby utility pole told investigators that he saw a flash of light and then spotted Norris on the ground. The co-worker performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until an ambulance arrived, but to no avail.

BTES CEO Mike Browder said everyone at the Bristol, Tenn.-based utility was stunned, and that counselors were available to co-workers.

“He was a very good worker – conscientious and loved his family. ... He was a real class man,” Browder said. “Right now we just really feel for his family and the tragedy they’re dealing with.”

Norris’ death marked the first BTES accident in 26 years in which an injured worker could not return to work the next day, Browder said.

“The work that they do is very dangerous work,” Browder said.

An apprentice lineman since joining BTES in June 2007, Norris was tasked Tuesday with animal-proofing a transformer, Browder said. The pole he climbed was nearly 300 feet from Hickory Tree Road.

Co-workers Cody Carrier and Brian Harbor were at a utility pole more than 200 feet away, Sullivan County deputy Lt. B.J. Richardson wrote in an e-mail.

Carrier told investigators that he heard a loud noise, saw a flash of light, and saw Norris on the ground, a police report states.

Carrier then ran to Norris’ side and began CPR, the report states. All BTES utility workers are trained in CPR, Browder said.

“We are still investigating this,” sheriff’s deputy Lt. David Meade said at an evening news conference. “It is still an open case.”

Also joining the investigation is the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

| (276) 645-2549

UPDATE 4:24 p.m.:
A Bristol Tennessee Essential Services worker was dead on arrival this morning, according to a report just issued by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department.

Ronald Eugene Norris, 34, of 273 Apple Ridge Rd. Bluff City,died this morning while working for BTES on Hickory Tree Road outside of Bluff City.

Another worker for BTES, Cody Carrier, reported that he was checking to make sure there was no power on the pole Norris was on when he looked over, heard a loud noise and a flash of light. Carrier reports that when he looked over to the pole, Norris was on the ground. All of this information comes as a result of the police report issued this afternoon.

Carrier attempted to perform CPR on Norris until EMS arrived.

The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department will have more information in a press conference scheduled for 5:30 tonight.
————-

Crews are investigating what appears to be the death of a person along Hickory Tree Road at the intersection of Morrell Creek Road near Bluff City.

11 Connects and the Bristol Herald Courier have reporters at the scene.

We’re told the body of a person has been loaded into a coroner’s van. According to an eyewitness, a Bristol Tennessee Essential Services lineman was electrocuted.

Investigators haven’t released information, but our crews report several BTES power trucks are parked nearby.

We’ll have more on this breaking news story as it develops.