A Raleigh County, W. Va., electrician is recovering in a Virginia hospital after he was subjected to an arc blast while working to restore power to a pump station. Mike Buzminsky of Crab Orchard was working to restore commercial power to the pump station for the city of Ronceverte’s water company, when an arc knocked him backward and caused severe burns, according to Metro News.
“He was trying to clean up some of the terminals and as soon as he touched them it arc flashed and blew him back into the floor. He went blind for about ten minutes,” said the victim’s son Chad Buzminsky. “The guys there at Ronceverte carried him out of the building, poured water all over his body, his clothes were on fire at that point.”
The incident happened about 4 p.m. on Friday, July 1, a week after the building had been submerged in flood water, according to the news report.
Buzminsky had more than 40 years of experience as an electrician and had never been involved in a serious accident. His son doubted he made a careless mistake, but may have been dealing with a lot of variables he couldn’t know because of the flood damage.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the West Virginia Fire Marshal’s office are investigaing the incident. Buzminsky was working for Beckley-based Hughes Supply Company when the accident happened.
