First responders at the scene where a man was electrocuted while trimming a palm tree. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
A worker killed while trimming a tree June 4 in Ocean Ridge has been identified as Alonzo Gilberto Domingo Domingo, 25, of West Palm Beach, according to a report from the Ocean Ridge Police Department.
Police responded to a 911 call at 10:41 a.m. When they arrived at 4 Beachway North at 10:43, they saw Domingo Domingo unconscious and dangling from a coconut palm tree by his safety harness. He dangled about 25 feet off the ground for several minutes before Boynton Beach Fire Rescue firefighters in a bucket truck could get him down.
“They immediately called Florida Power & Light to shut off the power so they could start the rescue. OSHA was called and the investigation is continuing,” said Chelsea Sanabia, a spokesperson for Boynton Beach, which provides fire rescue services to the town.
Tom Pelegrin, who lives at 16 Adams Road directly behind the home, said his neighbor told him she was in her back yard when she heard a scream.
“She told me she looked up and saw the gentleman in distress,” he said. “She also saw smoke, then she called 911. This is horrible. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Power lines could be seen close to the tree, which appeared to have burn marks. The arriving officer also “detected a faint burnt odor in the area,” according to the report.
Domingo Domingo worked for Gator Lawn and Landscape of Jupiter. He was part of a four-person crew that arrived at the job site that morning, but was working alone at the time of the incident, the report said.
The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office observed burns to Domingo Domingo’s hands and upper thighs, and later determined the cause of death as electrocution, the report states.
This is the second incident this year in Ocean Ridge of a tree trimmer being killed.
A worker identified as Elmer Eduardo DeLeon Calmo, 32, of West Palm Beach, was pulled into a wood chipper and killed while trimming coconut palms at Ocean Ridge Town Hall on Jan. 28.
He was a member of a crew from Carlton Tree Services, a vendor hired by the town for the work.
— Henry Fitzgerald
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