Two men suffer electrical burns, one critical

JEFFERSON - Two men were burned Tuesday morning while working on a power substation at a site on Valentine Industrial Parkway in Jefferson.

Jackson County Emergency Management Agency Director Steve Nichols said emergency crews were called to the scene around 8:50 a.m. When they arrived, he said they found one of the workers with burns to both arms. The other worker had been trapped inside the transformer box. He said Georgia Power was called and arrived on the scene in a matter of minutes.

"They de-energized the substation, killed the power to the transformer box iself. The victim was then removed," said Nichols.

He described the second man as being in "extremely critical" condition with second and third degree burns to most of his upper torso. Nichols said he was flown by air ambulance to Grady Hospital in Atlanta.

The other victim was taken to Athens Regional Hospital for treatment of his burns.

Nichols said it appeared that the men were injured when a ladder they were on fell against the substation.

He said the workers did not work for Georgia Power, but were contract workers from an Athens company that were working outside of Airgas Corporation at the industrial park.

Nichols did not release the identities of the workers, saying only they appeared to be in their 30s.