The power outage that injured two lineworkers earlier this week was caused by an “electrical arc fire,” according to JEA.
The two JEA linemen, David Lutins and Theodric Arline, were taken to Memorial Hospital’s Trauma Center, according to police reports.
Lutins had severe burns to the left sides of his face, chest and hand, said police reports. Fire rescue arrived and transported him to Memorial Hospital’s trauma center, where he was transferred to Shands Hospital burn center in Gainesville, where he stayed overnight.
According to JEA, Lutins is now stable and recovering at home.
Arline did not appear to be burned at the scene, but was having trouble breathing, according to police reports. The reporting officer wrote that Arline appeared to be “disoriented” and in “slight shock.”
Arline was released immediately after he received treatment from the hospital, said JEA.
The outage and injuries were a direct result of a “flash fire,” also known as an “electrical arc fire,” according to police reports and JEA.
An electrical arc occurs when a high-voltage current jumps across a gap between two conductive materials. According to JEA, the fire started in the electrical cabinet the linemen were working on.
JEA is in the “preliminary stages” of its investigation and confirmed to Spinnaker that this fire caused the workers’ injuries.
“Our safety team has started [its investigation], but we still are looking at tools, equipment used [and] cause,” said JEA spokesperson Karen McAllister.
The outage on Aug. 27 left the University of North Florida and surrounding areas without power for multiple hours. Power was restored to the UNF campus around 2:30 p.m. the same day.
“On behalf of the UNF community, we send our support and well wishes for quick recovery to the two JEA workers who were injured on campus today,” UNF President Moez Limayem said after the incident.
JEA also commented on Tuesday’s incident.
“Safety is our No. 1 priority at JEA, but this incident does reflect some of the dangers that lineworkers face on a day-to-day basis serving our community,” JEA said.
This is a breaking news story. Stay with Spinnaker as we continue to bring you updates.
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