A man who friends say tried to put out a quarter-acre fire in Hemet Wednesday was shocked and severely burned by a downed power line, according to fire officials and media reports.
Neighbors say they heard a loud boom about 11 a.m. Wednesday in the 1100 block of Olive Tree Lane, according to KNBC-4 reports. Shortly afterward, authorities received reports of a fire.
About 11:38 a.m., firefighters discovered the source of the boom: a blown transformer on nearby Los Tilos Road.
Neighbors say a 26-year-old man who was attending a Fourth of July party jumped into action, according to media reports. He grabbed a hose, but when he opened the metal gate he fell to the ground; a downed power line had electrified the gate.
The man was airlifted to a trauma center and was admitted with severe burns to his arms, media reports show. Friends say the man is alert and talking and should recover.
About the same time Wednesday, at least 1,493 Southern California Edison customers in nearby East Hemet lost power after metallic balloons hit power lines.
That incident was centered at San Jacinto Street and Whittier Avenue — about two blocks east of the Olive Tree Lane fire.