BOUNTIFUL, Utah (ABC 4 News) - A two-and-a-half year old boy is in critical condition in the burn unit at University Hospital after he was shocked by a downed power line. It happened shortly before six o'clock Tuesday night at 733 W 3200 S in Bountiful. Police say the child, identified as Jake Marlow, was playing on a swing set when a tree limb fell and knocked a high-voltage power line to the ground.
"I was asleep and I heard, I didn't know what it was, but Life Flight took off," says a neighbor.
A spokesman for Bountiful City Light and Power says, "It was this front that came in, this wind come and this branch fell off and came over the top of it." Allen Johnson says the child was playing when the 7,200 volt line came in contact with some metal on the swing set.
Bountiful Police Sgt. Gary Koehn says, "It's very serious, electrical burns are very serious because it burns you on the inside and it causes internal injuries." Sgt. Koehn says the child's aunt was inside the house at the time and was initially unaware the boy was shocked. "In speaking with the medics, we think he was on the swing and the line may have hit him in the shoulder, exiting out his feet."
Neighbors say this isn't the first time a power line has come down in the area. "I've lived here for 25 years and whenever we have bad weather, we have lines and transformers that blow," says Fred Braunberger.
Bountiful City Light and Power spokesman Allen Johnson says there aren't any problems with the condition of the lines, he says it's a battle with Mother Nature. "Trees and power lines don't match. A lot of people believe they're insulated, they're actually uninsulated." Johnson says any concerned home owners can call their local power company to remove any potentially dangerous branches or tree limbs.
