ORINDA, Calif. --
Two men were hospitalized Saturday morning after they came into contact with high voltage wires while washing windows in Orinda.
The jolt was so intense it set one of the men on fire and all of it happened in front of a dozen horrified onlookers who were at a nearby farmers market.
Officials said the men were washing the windows of a business complex when their cherry picker hit a150,000-volt power line.
One of the guys, the left side of the basket, was on fire. And then the other guy I saw him slump over. I thought he was dead at that point, said Patricia Broman, who witnessed the accident.
It was approximately 35 minutes before emergency personnel could get the two men to the ground, according Lt. Eric Navarro of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.
Fire officials admitted afterwards that they took a while to get a ladder truck to help the two men because it had to come from across town and then they had to deal with the downed power lines.
We have to treat everything as live until that point, until we know for a fact and get confirmation from PG&E that the line is shut off. If not, then we start killing firefighters while we attempt a rescue, said Batt. Chief Darrell Lee of the Moraga Orinda Fire District.
Some of the shoppers on hand were outraged by the response of emergency personnel and PG&E.
Those guys were up there burning, in a state of shock for close to an hour before they got a ladder to them and pulled them down, said Russell Abraham.
Orinda City Council Woman Sue Severson witnessed the accident and was concerned about any delay caused by the cell phone 911 calls going first to CHP headquarters in Vallejo.
It was very disconcerting for the citizens and obviously like I said traumatic that there was a lag in response time, said Severson.
Cal-OSHA was investigating the incident Saturday afternoon.
Orinda's Police Chief told KTVU that the incident was clearly an OSHA violation because the window-washers were far too close to the power lines.
ORINDA: Window Washers Shocked, Set Afire In Front Of Farmer's Market [John Sasaki]Copyright 2010 by KTVU.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
