A man was airlifted to the hospital Monday afternoon after being electrocuted while working near a power line in New Castle. Emergency crews were dispatched to the 300 block of Chelwynne Road at approximately 4:40 p.m. for reports of a injured person.
According to initial reports from the scene, the individual was using an extended tool to trim trees when the equipment made contact with a live power line. The man was reportedly wearing a safety harness and fell onto the power line during the incident. The harness held him suspended making it difficult for rescue crews to make access to him. Witnesses in the area described hearing a loud explosion moments before emergency services arrived on scene.
Personnel from several fire companies, New Castle County EMS, and Delaware State Police Aviation responded to the call. Rescue crews worked swiftly to extricate the man from the electrical hazard. Once lowered to the ground, the 25-year-old man was transported by Trooper 4 to Christiana Hospital in critical condition.
Delmarva Power responded to the scene and has confirmed that approximately 300 customers in the immediate vicinity were affected by the outage resulting from the incident.