San Diego
A lawsuit seeking damages of more than $2 million has been filed against San Diego Gas & Electric in connection with a 1986 accident in which four painters were electrocuted and their supervisor critically injured.
The suit was filed in San Diego Superior Court by the supervisor, Charles J. Booth, 51, and relatives of two of the victims, Edward Illig and William Mallory.
Illig, Mallory and two other civilian painters--James B. Tatum and Benjamin Ross--died when they pushed a metal scaffold against a high-voltage power line at the Navy Submarine Base on Point Loma. The contact between the scaffold and the 12,000-volt line caused an explosion and fireball and sent about 7,200 volts of electricity down the scaffold and into the men’s bodies.
Attorney David Ronquillo said the lawsuit alleges that SDG&E; “carelessly and negligently erected and failed to maintain, mark and insulate the power line.”
Booth suffered severe burns and damage to the nervous system and has been unable to work since the accident, the lawsuit alleges. He is seeking compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering and lost earnings. Relatives of the dead men are seeking damages for wrongful death, medical and burial expenses and other incidentals.
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