Nelson, O. A. d. 1932

NELSON

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 6/9/2015 at 07:56:39

O. A. Nelson, Prairie City, Electrocuted

Working On High Line When He Came In Contact With Charged Wire

O. A. Nelson, of Prairie City, was electrocuted early Thursday morning when he came in contact with a live wire while working on the high line just north of Prairie City, on the Colfax-Prairie City road. A piece of barbed wire that had been carelessly thrown across the 6,600 volt power line was the direct cause of Mr. Nelson’s death.

Mr. Nelson, who was in charge of the electric lines for the Iowa Power & Light Company, had been called to the high line to put out a fire on a pole earlier in the morning, and at that time he cut the ground wire and made another trip to repair the short circuit.

According to the checkup after the accident, the barbed wire had been thrown across the power wires several poles north of the one on which Nelson was killed, and served to ground the current into a static wire, which was dead-ended on the pole climbed by Nelson.

The static wire, it was explained, is used for lightning protection. It was tied to a cross arm brace on the pole climbed by Nelson, the climber, from finger marks burned on the brace, evidently having clutched the brace with his left hand as he reached the top of the pole preparatory to cutting the static wire and correcting the short circuit or ground.

As Nelson grabbed the brace, charged with 6,600 volts of electricity from the static wire, his left at the same time braced against a telephone wire lower on the pole, formed a perfect circuit for the power, it was explained. Nelson’s left hand was severely burned and a large hole also was burned on the outside of his left leg just above the knee, where the contact was formed. The insulation on the telephone wire was burned off at that spot.

At the time of the accident, Nelson (Turn to page seven).

The rest of this obituary is missing. ~ The Colfax Tribune, Colfax, Iowa Thurs 2 June 1932.

Transcriber note: There is an Otto A. Nelson buried in Prairie City Cemetery who died in 1932 but have not included because I cannot prove it was the same person. See at Find A Grave.