One man dead after being electrocuted in Bricktown Canal
1 day ago
OKLAHOMA CITY - One man is dead after being electrocuted in the Bricktown Canal in a bizarre accident.
On Sunday evening, 911 dispatchers in Oklahoma City received several calls about an accident at the Bricktown Canal
"A guy was taking a picture, his girlfriend was taking a picture of her boyfriend. And he was holding on a lamp and he fell in the river, and the lamp fell with him and he got electrocuted. He's not conscious. He's on the ground. And he's not waking up,” said one 911 caller.
"Somebody jumped into the pool and they were drowning, then another guy jumped and one of them came out, but the other one is not,” said another 911 caller.
City officials say a man was leaning against a bollard light along the canal when it suddenly gave way, sending him into the canal.
"He stopped and leaned up against one of the lighting bollards, and the bollard fell into the canal and took the man with him. And as he was trying to get out of the canal, he grabbed onto the bollard and the wires and that's when the electrocution, from what I understood, took place,” said Kristy Yager, with the City of Oklahoma City.
Another man, who reportedly did not know the first victim , jumped into the canal to try to save him. Sadly, he did not resurface.
Fire officials say when they arrived, the first man had been pulled from the canal by bystanders.
"They were even getting shocked as they tried to grab the first individual and try to pull him out, so they were not able to do that. That's how we knew we were dealing with an electrical current in this water,” said Battalion Chief Benny Fulkerson, with the Oklahoma City Fire Department.
Since they couldn’t get in the water, firefighters used a fiberglass pike pole to fish the other man from the bottom of the water.
"My understanding is the second individual didn't even know the first one that he was going in to try to assist, so it was somebody obviously, apparently, tried to do a really good thing and the circumstances were just really unfortunate,” said Chief Fulkerson.
"We have crews out on the canal that work every day even weekends and if they see problems, then they'll take care of it and fix it and they didn't see a problem with that bollard,” said Yager.
City officials say they now have an electrical contractor checking all 80 of the bollards along the canal.
The lights are around 20-years-old, installed the same time the canal was constructed.
"We just have never had an incident like this occur along the Bricktown Canal. So it's just tragic,” said Yager.
Yager says the lights are not grounded, adding that the city is unable to make the conversion because of the age of the lights.
The man who died has been identified as 23-year-old Wesley Seeley.
The other man has not been identified but is in critical condition.
A family friend tells us he had just gotten married the day before the accident.
1 day ago
OKLAHOMA CITY - One man is dead after being electrocuted in the Bricktown Canal in a bizarre accident.
On Sunday evening, 911 dispatchers in Oklahoma City received several calls about an accident at the Bricktown Canal
"A guy was taking a picture, his girlfriend was taking a picture of her boyfriend. And he was holding on a lamp and he fell in the river, and the lamp fell with him and he got electrocuted. He's not conscious. He's on the ground. And he's not waking up,” said one 911 caller.
"Somebody jumped into the pool and they were drowning, then another guy jumped and one of them came out, but the other one is not,” said another 911 caller.
City officials say a man was leaning against a bollard light along the canal when it suddenly gave way, sending him into the canal.
"He stopped and leaned up against one of the lighting bollards, and the bollard fell into the canal and took the man with him. And as he was trying to get out of the canal, he grabbed onto the bollard and the wires and that's when the electrocution, from what I understood, took place,” said Kristy Yager, with the City of Oklahoma City.
Another man, who reportedly did not know the first victim , jumped into the canal to try to save him. Sadly, he did not resurface.
Fire officials say when they arrived, the first man had been pulled from the canal by bystanders.
"They were even getting shocked as they tried to grab the first individual and try to pull him out, so they were not able to do that. That's how we knew we were dealing with an electrical current in this water,” said Battalion Chief Benny Fulkerson, with the Oklahoma City Fire Department.
Since they couldn’t get in the water, firefighters used a fiberglass pike pole to fish the other man from the bottom of the water.
"My understanding is the second individual didn't even know the first one that he was going in to try to assist, so it was somebody obviously, apparently, tried to do a really good thing and the circumstances were just really unfortunate,” said Chief Fulkerson.
"We have crews out on the canal that work every day even weekends and if they see problems, then they'll take care of it and fix it and they didn't see a problem with that bollard,” said Yager.
City officials say they now have an electrical contractor checking all 80 of the bollards along the canal.
The lights are around 20-years-old, installed the same time the canal was constructed.
"We just have never had an incident like this occur along the Bricktown Canal. So it's just tragic,” said Yager.
Yager says the lights are not grounded, adding that the city is unable to make the conversion because of the age of the lights.
The man who died has been identified as 23-year-old Wesley Seeley.
The other man has not been identified but is in critical condition.
A family friend tells us he had just gotten married the day before the accident.
Watched this in the news this morning. Told my wife when they installed those light bollards that close to the water it was an accident waiting to happen. Have had those types of lights called for on a couple different projects and they are not that sturdy unless you are really willing to go top dollar . Base and body on the cheaper ones are weak.
Sad story. Thinking those may be removed and replaced with the flush mount lights in the near future!!
Sad story. Thinking those may be removed and replaced with the flush mount lights in the near future!!
Terrible thing that happened for sure.
Would a ground fault circuit breaker be good to have in a set up like this.
We as home owners must have them in newer builds.
I hate them but in a situation like this.
Would a ground fault circuit breaker be good to have in a set up like this.
We as home owners must have them in newer builds.
I hate them but in a situation like this.
Your kidding me. No grounds on an electrical appliance within 20' of water much less a GFCI?
The NEC back when I put my pool in over 20 years ago called for a GFCI within that distance.
Grounds have been required since the 80's or earlier be it earth ground or chassis ground.
The city is attempting to cover their butts and the butts of the brother in law that got the contract to wire those bollards in without grounds.
The chan 5 news tonight said that they would have to redesign the system to prevent future issues with GFCI. ya right.
Those lights are 277v from what I heard the news say this morning. Have never seen or heard of a GFCI on 277 but I am not an electrician, just been around a lot of commercial lighting and never heard of it.
Seems like an odd voltage. 3-phase perhaps?
Might explain the absence of a ground.
Might explain the absence of a ground.
An Overview Of 277 Volt Electrical Systems
Industrial and commercial power is delivered in 120/208-Volt and 277/480-Volt systems. Heating and ventilation systems are run at 480 volts while industrial scale lighting runs at 277 Volts. A 277/480-Volt system powers the industrial and commercial equipment at 480 volts while the 277 volt wiring powers the lights.
Electrical discharge lighting is designed to run on 277-volt wiring. A three-phase, four-wire distribution system running at 277 volts is used for high voltage lighting like LED arrays and fluorescent lights. Electricians can run 277 volts off 480-Volt AC circuits.
A 277/480V, three-phase system can provide single phase or three-phase power at 277 volts or 480 volts. Electrical distribution systems with 277-Volt wiring use step down transformers to provide either 240-Volt or 120-volt power as required. Residential AC circuits use power at 120 amps and 277 volts. Wiring of a 277/480-Volt system can supply both industrial and residential users. Using 277-Volt wiring permits more lights to be powered by a single branch circuit. This reduces the amount of high voltage wiring that must be installed to connect banks of LED or fluorescent lights, or appliances.
Industrial and commercial power is delivered in 120/208-Volt and 277/480-Volt systems. Heating and ventilation systems are run at 480 volts while industrial scale lighting runs at 277 Volts. A 277/480-Volt system powers the industrial and commercial equipment at 480 volts while the 277 volt wiring powers the lights.
Electrical discharge lighting is designed to run on 277-volt wiring. A three-phase, four-wire distribution system running at 277 volts is used for high voltage lighting like LED arrays and fluorescent lights. Electricians can run 277 volts off 480-Volt AC circuits.
A 277/480V, three-phase system can provide single phase or three-phase power at 277 volts or 480 volts. Electrical distribution systems with 277-Volt wiring use step down transformers to provide either 240-Volt or 120-volt power as required. Residential AC circuits use power at 120 amps and 277 volts. Wiring of a 277/480-Volt system can supply both industrial and residential users. Using 277-Volt wiring permits more lights to be powered by a single branch circuit. This reduces the amount of high voltage wiring that must be installed to connect banks of LED or fluorescent lights, or appliances.
277 volts is one leg of a 480 three phase system commonly used in industrial and commercial lighting systems when they used Metal Halide and sodium bulbs.
Most new systems going in are LED, most with motion sensors in low usage areas like warehouses. When you walk down the center aisle, the lights come on with your motion into the zone, stay on with a timer and shut off when no motion is detected.
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