LONGVIEW — A Cowlitz County sheriff’s officer says a Longview-area man was seriously injured when he struck an underground power line as he dug a trench.
Deputy Dave Handy says a neighbor watching a security camera saw a flash of light Monday night and went outside to find 51-year-old Robert Gilcher lying across the line. The neighbor pulled the man off the line, getting shocked himself as he did so.
The Daily News of Longview reports that the deputy says Gilcher was conscious and breathing when an ambulance took him to a hospital. The neighbor declined medical assistance.
Gilcher was working on a water main outside the apartment complex where he lives.
Handy says the incident knocked out power to the small apartment complex.
