Boynton Beach firefighters/paramedics wheel a gurney back to their medical transport vehicle following a possible electrocution on June 4 in Ocean Ridge. Boynton Beach Fire Rescue and Ocean Ridge police responded to reports of a tree trimmer being electrocuted while trimming fronds on a coconut palm behind a home on Beachway Drive. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Henry Fitzgerald
A worker was killed Wednesday morning while trimming a palm tree behind a residence at 4 Beachway Drive in Ocean Ridge. He appeared to have been electrocuted while trimming the tree.
The 26-year-old man could be seen dangling from the coconut palm tree by his harness about 30 feet off the ground for several minutes before Boynton Beach Fire Rescue firefighters in a bucket truck managed to get him down. Powerlines could be seen close to the tree, which appeared to have burn marks.
Chelsea Sanabia, a spokesperson for Boynton Beach, which provides fire rescue services to the town, said town police got a call at 10:50 a.m. of smoke in the area. When police arrived, they discovered the tree trimmer.
“When officers arrived, they noticed the man stuck in the tree,” Sanabia said. “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.”
Tom Pelegrin, who lives at 16 Adams Road directly behind the home, said his neighbor told him she was in her back yard at about 10:45 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.”
Police said the man was working alone. They declined to identify him pending notification of next of kin.
Power was restored around 12:20 p.m.
This is the second incident this year in Ocean Ridge of a tree trimmer being killed. A man was caught in a wood chipper and killed while working at Ocean Ridge Town Hall on Jan. 28.
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