'Tis The Season
Man dies hanging Christmas lights
Shocked and falls 30 feet from ladder
By STEPHANIE KISZCZAK
November 29, 2007 - 9:25PM
EDWARDSVILLE — A man died Thursday night after he was shocked and then fell 30 feet off a ladder while hanging Christmas lights on a tree outside his home.
Bruce R. Coultas, 42, of the 100 block of North Fillmore Street, was perched on an aluminum extension ladder against a large pine tree in his front yard and was attempting to hang Christmas lights. He came into contact with high-tension power lines carrying 7,200 volts of electricity and fell some 30 feet to the ground, Edwardsville Fire Chief J. Brian Wilson said.
“It appeared he may have thrown the strand (of Christmas lights) to make it across the tree,” Wilson said.
The strand of lights came into contact with an Ameren power line, which transmitted electricity into Coultas, Edwardsville Police Chief James S. Bedell said in a news release Thursday night. He was “thrown from the ladder and landed on the ground.”
A witness walking by the house “saw an electric arc, flash of light and then saw the victim fall to the ground,” Wilson said. The witness called 911. The Edwardsville Police and Fire Departments got the call at 5:35 p.m. and arrived on the scene just two minutes later.
Rescue crews found Coultas “unconscious and unresponsive” by the sidewalk in front of his house. After using an electricity-sensing device to verify that Coultas no longer was in contact with electrical wires, rescue workers put him in an ambulance and began resuscitation. He was taken to Anderson Hospital in Maryville, where he died of his injuries, Wilson said.
A cause of death has not been determined, Bedell said in the release.
Shocked and falls 30 feet from ladder
By STEPHANIE KISZCZAK
November 29, 2007 - 9:25PM
EDWARDSVILLE — A man died Thursday night after he was shocked and then fell 30 feet off a ladder while hanging Christmas lights on a tree outside his home.
Bruce R. Coultas, 42, of the 100 block of North Fillmore Street, was perched on an aluminum extension ladder against a large pine tree in his front yard and was attempting to hang Christmas lights. He came into contact with high-tension power lines carrying 7,200 volts of electricity and fell some 30 feet to the ground, Edwardsville Fire Chief J. Brian Wilson said.
“It appeared he may have thrown the strand (of Christmas lights) to make it across the tree,” Wilson said.
The strand of lights came into contact with an Ameren power line, which transmitted electricity into Coultas, Edwardsville Police Chief James S. Bedell said in a news release Thursday night. He was “thrown from the ladder and landed on the ground.”
A witness walking by the house “saw an electric arc, flash of light and then saw the victim fall to the ground,” Wilson said. The witness called 911. The Edwardsville Police and Fire Departments got the call at 5:35 p.m. and arrived on the scene just two minutes later.
Rescue crews found Coultas “unconscious and unresponsive” by the sidewalk in front of his house. After using an electricity-sensing device to verify that Coultas no longer was in contact with electrical wires, rescue workers put him in an ambulance and began resuscitation. He was taken to Anderson Hospital in Maryville, where he died of his injuries, Wilson said.
A cause of death has not been determined, Bedell said in the release.
This entry was posted
on Friday, November 30, 2007 at 12:41 PM.
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6:37 PMthere are some things i am willing to die for and many that I am not. One thing that I am not willing to die for is christmas lights.
i feel bad for his family
6:58 PM
I don't think we are talking about any sort of willingness to die here. I think he made a mistake.
Just shows how temporary and fragile life is here and we could die any day the Lord chooses.
Thursday was his day.
Father ... you know the very number of hairs on our heads ... you know when each bird falls. Envelop this family with your love and comfort them. May friends and neighbours rally in support for them and bring healing and mirth to their broken hearts ...
In the name of your precious son, our mediator and saviour, Jesus Christ.
12:28 AM
No cause of death. HUH.
2:35 AM
Now there's a story to get you into the Christmas season...thanx for keeping it real Paul, albeit morbid!
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