Whittier man shocked, badly hurt when power line falls

WHITTIER -- A man was hospitalized in critical condition Saturday after a high-voltage power line fell on top of him and shocked him for several minutes.
The accident was reported about 8 a.m. in the 1300 block of Mooreland Drive, Whittier police Sgt. Brent Anderson said.
An officer responded to a call reporting a person screaming in an alley, the sergeant said.
"He found that a man was pinned to the ground by a power wire," he said. The electrical current was still flowing through him.
The officer sprayed the injured man with a fire extinguisher as he began to catch fire from the electrical current, Anderson said.
Southern California Edison officials were summoned to cut power to the line, and they did so within minutes, Anderson said. The 24-year-old man was then rushed to a hospital where he was listed in critical condition.
Officers learned that the man had been inside his home when a power line broke loose, apparently due to the weather, and sparked a fire on the roof, Anderson said.
As the man was trying to extinguish the fire, the loose wire fell and struck him, shocking him and knocking him unconscious, Anderson said. The wire then landed across the man, continuing to pump electricity through his body.
A 46-year woman who tried to help the man as he was pinned by the high-voltage wire was shocked herself and thrown across the alley, Anderson said. She was treated for injuries not believed to be life-threatening.