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Darwin Awards
2014 Slush Pile

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Man Electrocuted in Substation

2014 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

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The sign beside the just-cut opening in the fence couldn’t be more clear: “You can get badly hurt by an electric shock if you go inside.”

But it must have seemed worth it, because the would-be copper thief went inside anyway, bypassing the warnings and the barbed wire to cut his way into the Southeast London Power Station.

He was found dead there Friday morning, the eighth person since 2008 to die in Canada while apparently trying to steal copper, according to statistics collected by the Canadian Electricity Association.

It wasn’t the first time trespassers had cut their way into the Power St. plant — there have been 11 reports of trespassers with copper-cutting tools on the property since 2012 — but Friday’s death was the first of a trespasser police can remember.

“It would appear as though, based upon the circumstances in which we found him, that he died as a result of electrocution,” said Sgt. Stephen Cochrane, who said police found “tools consistent with those normally used to cut copper wires.

“He’s cut through the fence and it appears as though (he died) inside the compound.”

After cutting his way into the general area of the Hydro One Highbury transformer station, the man cut through a second fence, into a small compound that contains equipment called a “capacitor bank,” which has 27,000 volts of electricity running through it.

“It’s extremely dangerous to enter into that area,” said Hydro One spokesperson Nancy Shaddick, adding employees came across the body after noticing the holes in the fence.

But the danger is so high paramedics who arrived at the scene about 9:30 a.m. had to wait about 30 minutes for hydro staff to cut off power before they could enter the area to assess the man’s condition and confirm he was dead.

Police didn’t release the identity of the man, saying they still needed to contact his family.

For years, police across North America have warned about copper thefts, driven by the ability to sell the material at scrap metal yards. The price of copper has spiked about 200% over the past decade, the Canadian Electricity Association says.

Despite obvious hazards, transformer stations are tempting to copper thieves because the metal is used throughout the equipment.

Copper is used in Hydro plants to ground electricity at the stations, so those who remove it are also putting employees in danger, Shaddick said.

Submitted on 11/24/2014

Submitted by: John W
Reference: London Free Press, October 10, 2014

Copyright © 2014 DarwinAwards.com

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Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
Yet another crispy copper crook for Darwin to consider. Thanks, John.


Candi said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
Copper copping crispy crook! (On a side note, please double-check the text before submitting. All that extra text at the top is unnecessary and distracting.)


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