Details About Fatal Brooklyn Manhole Fire

Yesterday, a routine Con Ed visit to a manhole at Euclid and Sutter Avenues in Brooklyn turned deadly when an explosion occurred with one worker trapped inside. George Dillman, 26, was killed as he was splicing cables.

A witness, Craig Fullmore, told the NY Times that black smoke "started pouring out of the manhole and a buzzing could be heard." Dillman's partner, Craig Penney, was above ground and tried to help Dillman by lowering a ladder, but a witness told the Daily News, "The guy down there - he didn't have a chance. He would have needed God to pull him out."

Fullmore was pulling an emotional Penney away from the manhole when the explosion occurred. A neighbor said, "You could feel a rumbling in the floor, like a mini-earthquake. The flames were eight feet high, and the smoke covered the whole block. " It took two hours to recover Dillman's body, because, the NY Post reports, firefighters and Con Ed workers "struggled to turn off the electrical current to a dozen feeders--each carrying up to 27,000 volts."

The cause of the explosion is still being investigated. A spokesman for Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2 told the Times, “People don’t realize, but there are a lot of people who get burned on the job. You throw a switch and the light comes on. But it takes a whole lot to make sure that happens and people take that for granted.”

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By Jen Chung in News on October 10, 2008 11:46 AM

Comments [rss]

GM

He must've been doing a live splice and something shorted between the lines. The union's right, there's a lot of potential to get hurt doing it. As far as I know, there's no alternative, as then you'd have to be shutting down the power for thousands of people at a time to do this kind of work.

jchez

Maintaining our modern technological pleasantries is a mind-numbingly difficult process. Unless a terrible tragedy like this occurs, most of the time we never bother to think about those who make it possible for us to enjoy the benefits of civilization. However, we value entertainers highly; we make them millionaires.

Not a rant, just an observation.

Jen Chung

I think the union's point is that it's a dangerous job, period. Much the same way tragedies like construction or scaffolding accidents underscore that people are risking their lives to make the city work.

And @Novanglus--it seems that he was very nice from all things I've read. I'm sorry for you, his other friends and family, as well as co-workers. Really terrible way to die.

Novanglus

"So what, we are supposed to feel guilty that ConEd's negligence caused a fatality?"

Yeah, seriously, keep that fucking garbage out of this. You're fuckin clueless.

Novanglus

Not kidding, I know George. We went to school together and used to play handball, took Tae Kwon Do together and all that. I last saw him at a bday party in July.

We weren't very close, but he was always good people. Very sad to see him go.

smh

my father was nearly killed in the same exact scenario. he works for a utility company on the West Coast.

i feel bad for this kid and his family - it's really a horrible way to go. it sounds like the flames were more intense than my father's accident, where he was actually able to pull himself out of the hole. still, my father was left with 3rd degree burns on 35% of his body.

rip - hopefully he didn't suffer too much. the initial pain probably caused him to pass out immediately.

Amanda Harletsch

Sad

JRod5417

Sounds like a horrible way to go. RIP.

Cacheton

You throw a switch and the light comes on. But it takes a whole lot to make sure that happens and people take that for granted.

So what, we are supposed to feel guilty that ConEd's negligence caused a fatality?