Power line fatal for tree trimmer

Limb falls on it; he’s electrocuted

 Little Rock firefighters work to get a man, with Hernandez Tree Service, down after he was killed by coming in contact with electric lines while trimming tree limbs behind a house in the 3600 block of West 10th St. around 1 pm Wednesday.
Little Rock firefighters work to get a man, with Hernandez Tree Service, down after he was killed by coming in contact with electric lines while trimming tree limbs behind a house in the 3600 block of West 10th St. around 1 pm Wednesday.

— A member of a tree service crew was electrocuted early Wednesday afternoon when a limb he had cut fell onto a power line.

Firefighters had to use a ladder truck to get to the man - later identified by the Pulaski County coroner’s office as Filiberto Martinez Pita, 27 - who was suspended about 35 feet off the ground by his harness.

Little Rock Fire Department spokesman Capt. Randy Hickmon said Pita was tethered to the top of the tree when a branch he was trimming dropped on a nearby power line about 1 p.m.

Hickmon said the laborer was touching the branch and that he was immediately electrocuted by a 8,000-volt charge.

Death was likely instantaneous, Hickmon said.

The man worked for Hernandez Tree Service, according to Charles White, 40, who hired the company to cut some branches looming over the roof of his 3610W. 10th St. home.

White said that after he was unable to get help from the city or from Entergy crews, which put him on a “waiting list,” he paid the company $400 to do the work that was needed after the Christmas Day snowstorm.

“I could hear the limbs on the house [last night],” White said. “If there was another big wind that came through ... this tree was going to come down.”

Shaking his head as he watched fire crews slowly lower the man’s body from a harness at the end of the truckladder, White had a tough time looking the man’s co-workers in the eye as they walked back and forth.

According to White, the three men working on the tree were family, a father and two sons. The victim was one of the sons.

“This is a tragedy what just happened,” White said.

Pulaski County Coroner Gerone Hobbs said that at least one of the other workers was Pita’s brother.

The person who answered the phone for the company and identified himself as “Mr. Hernandez” declined to talk to reporters.

Hickmon said that licensed and bonded tree removal companies often work with Entergy to get power turned off before starting work. He said he did not know whether Hernandez Tree Co. is bonded.

Entergy Arkansas spokesman Sally Graham wrote in a statement that it expects customers to call Entergy before approaching any limbs hanging over lines.

She said that Entergy encourages customers “to hire experienced, certified tree trimmers who can safely do the work.”

Little Rock homicide detectives were called to the address, but after interviews with fire officials and witnesses, the man’s death appears to be an industrial accident, according to department spokesman Sgt. Cassandra Davis.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 01/17/2013

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