Worker electrocuted in north Wichita

Wednesday, July 3 update:

Wichita police identified the man who was killed as 53-year-old Sergio Escalera of Wichita.

Original story:

A 53-year-old man was killed when he struck an electrical line while trimming trees in north Wichita.

The incident was reported to 911 at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the 1400 block of North Fairview.

The man “was trimming trees in an elevated bucket when he accidentally struck an electrical line. The male worked for a local tree trimming company,” wrote Wichita Police Officer Charley Davidson in a news release.

Jim Corteville, who lives on Fairview with his 85-year-old mother, said a team of tree trimmers from Asplundh Tree Expert Co asked him to move a vehicle on his property Tuesday morning.

“The tree surgeon man and his partner asked that I move the car, so I moved the car,” Corteville said. “They were trimming trees, and then about 40 minutes later, he came back and said his partner had been electrocuted and to call 911.”

The incident did not take place on Corteville’s property. Several Asplundh trucks were parked in the 1400 block of north Fairview on Tuesday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the local office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it has opened an investigation into the death.

This story was originally published July 2, 2019 at 12:27 PM.