IDs Released For Utility Workers Electrocuted In Area

Police have identified two electric workers who were found dead at the bottom of an electric pole after firefighters responded to a brush fire in Orange County.

Two power workers were killed during an accident.
Photo Credit: *Pixabay*

Two electric workers were killed.
Photo Credit: *Google Maps*

Kathy Reakes

08/21/2019 12:09 p.m.

Derrick Paris, 51, of West Caldwell, New Jersey, and Justin McLoughlin, 28, of Trenton, Georgia, were working as private contractors for Orange & Rockland Utilities, when the were killed, said ABC 7.

According to O&R, the incident took place shortly before 11 a.m., Monday, Aug. 19, when the two men were electrocuted in Warwick while performing work for O&R along a transmission right-of-way, said Mike Donovan, spokesman for O&R.

The two men died by electrical shock while working on a "guy wire" at the base of a utility pole off Continental Road, near the Appalachian Trail, officials said. A "guy wire" is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to a free-standing structure.

Federal and state officials are investigating the incident -- specifically what may have energized the wires -- which are not typically electrified.

The utility company is also conducting an investigation.

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