Two Green Mountain Power line workers suffered serious injuries Wednesday morning in Middlebury when they were more than 50 feet off the ground working on a utility pole and it broke.
Both Jared Allen, 25, of Bristol, and Josh McLean, 37, of Brandon, suffered head and internal injuries, according to Vermont State Police.
Allen was taken by a Middlebury rescue squad initially to Porter Hospital in Middlebury and then to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington for treatment, police said.
McLean was taken by helicopter to the UVM Medical Center in Burlington, according to police.
“Our hearts are with these line workers and their loved ones,” GMP said in a statement. “We are doing all we can to support them and our other colleagues who are impacted by this event.”
The statement added that the company will also conduct a review into the incident.
State police said they were called around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to the area of 390 Blake Road in Middlebury and once at the scene learned that the GMP line workers were injured when the utility pole they were working on broke.
A preliminary investigation, according to a news release from state police, showed that the two men were removing three-phase power lines from the pole and had started to send equipment to the ground when the pole broke at its base.
“The pole then fell striking a tracked vehicle and broke a second time,” the release stated. “Allen landed on the ground adjacent to the pole; McLean landed on the ground with the pole partially on top of him.”
Other GMP workers at the scene came to their aid, police said in the release, followed by rescue crews from Middlebury and Salisbury as well as the Salisbury Fire Department.
According to police, the two men were “properly wearing approved safety equipment (harnesses)” as they were working more than 50 feet off the ground when the incident took place.
As for what caused the pole to break, the release stated, “At present time it is believed that internal damage to the wooden pole is a main contributing factor of this accident.”
Police say they are continuing to investigate the incident.
