Two men suffered serious burns Saturday morning after the aerial platform they were working on touched a high-voltage power line near a farmer's market in Orinda, a battalion chief with the Moraga-Orinda Fire District said.
Shortly before 10 a.m., the men were working at a building at 25 Orinda Way when the platform struck the 115,000-volt power line, causing second- and third-degree burns across the majority of the victims' bodies, Battalion Chief Randy Trumpf said.
Within about 20 minutes, fire, police and PG&;E officials had responded to the area, where the Orinda Farmers' Market was taking place.
Live power lines had fallen in the area, preventing authorities from immediately getting up to the victims' platform to rescue them, PG&E spokesman Blair Jones said.
"We made sure it was safe before this type of attempt was made," Jones said. "Any time when you're in proximity to power lines, you have to take the utmost caution to make sure no further injuries occur."
Fire crews eventually used their own aerial platform to reach the victims, who were extricated and taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, according to Trumpf. He did not know the victims' condition as of Saturday evening.
PG&E crews were working Saturday evening to repair the power line, Jones said.
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No other injuries were reported due to the incident.
