Downed Power Lines Electrocute Would-Be Rescuers
TWO WOMEN WERE ELECTROCUTED WEDNESDAY night in Los Angeles when they tried to help a car crash victim.
The unusual series of events started around 8:30 pm Pacific when a car went out of control while trying to make a right turn in the North Hollywood area of the city. The car sheared off a wet-barrel fire hydrant and then crashed into a utility pole. The electric wires were knocked down and landed in the water gushing from the hydrant and effectively charging it. KABC-TV describes what happened next:
A woman who lived in a nearby residence rushed out to help the driver, was shocked by water energized by the power line and later died. A husband and wife passing by in a vehicle stopped to help. That woman also was electrocuted.
As more people approached the scene to help, more of them were shocked. Witnesses said they heard people screaming.
"There was some gentleman going, "Don't touch her! Don't touch her!' Then there was somebody else going, 'Somebody help her! Somebody pull her out!'" said witness Everett Hernandez. "I saw people. It looked like they were wrestling…but what they were really doing is they were pulling people from getting electrocuted because there was a live wire under the water."
Investigators said that eight people in total were injured, including a police officer. Five people were taken to a hospital and one was treated at the scene. The driver sustained minor injuries.
KABC-TV
A neighbor who heard the skid and crash outside his house told KNBC-TV reporters: "I run outside and across the street I see two women laying on the sidewalk. I see two or three young gentlemen keep trying to rescue them and pull them to safety and each time they would try to pull them they were getting shocked."
Besides the driver and the two fatalities, five other people were transported after being shocked while trying to help the victims.
KNBC-TV has this extended video report:
View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.
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THIS LOVELY, COLOR-COORDINATED, MINT GREEN AND SILVER FIRE HYDRANT located just outside of Tiger Woods’ home isn’t the only hydrant making news this week.






A Wrenching Story
Comments OffA Tool Commentary
We've all heard it…especially around my part of the country where so many items are manufactured. " That company is shipping jobs to China," and "We can't compete with China, " etc. This problem even became a major topic in the presidential election with numerous attempts to link Mitt Romney & Bain Capital with the decline and fall of American industry. ( be sure to read the very last line in this post!)
Many of us complain about the situation….but many of us still reach for the cheaper product to save a few dollars without even thinking about who made it, where it was made and whose pocket the profit is going into….except when it comes to those tools with blue handles. That's simple…you buy Channel Lock.
But another tool maker is locked into a major legal battle with another historically American tool name, Craftsman.
Loggerhead Tools is alleging that Sears first bought and then pirated the basic design of a great tool they make, The Bionic Wrench. Sears placed orders for a year or so but demanded that Loggerhead give it some exclusivity, barring sales to other big box stores such as Home Depot. Sales went extremely well for a year or so, but then Sears failed to place their order for the Christmas sales period. It was about that time the maker of the tool got an email from a tool enthusiast asking about a similar tool now being marketed under the Craftsman brand.
Sears had come out with a very similar wrench, priced about the same but made in China by cheap labor. Admittedly, the new wrench had very minor differences but the basic design was the same. Craftsman has traditionally been thought of as "Made in America". That concept has apparently been discarded by Sears in its struggle to stay relevant in today's American market.
The Real Bionic Wrench
So Loggerhead is about to launch into a major legal battle to save its product and its 100% American work force. That's where YOU come in!
Have tools on your Christmas shopping list? Buy em a Bionic Wrench directly from Loggerhead! Make a political statement Christmas morning by backing a small American company that was doing well until Sears screwed them!
This is NOT the first time Sears has been accused of this kind of action and I'm sure not the last but you can send them a message by refusing to buy the cheap Chinese made version and insist on a LOGGERHEAD BIONIC TOOL and buy it directly through Loggerhead's website: http://loggerheadtools.com/?main_page=index .
The back story: The Chinese company that makes the cheap Sears version is being acquired by Bain Capital, who has made a practice of exporting American jobs.
Sez the Gnome Handler, Steve Marshal.
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Loggerhead also makes the Bionic Hydrant Wrench for those poorly maintained fire hydrants with worn fittings.
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