The State - News from May 29, 1988

Two brothers who tried to stop a small grass fire from spreading from a Sebastopol orchard were electrocuted by a downed power line as their father tried desperately to free them, authorities said. David Connelly, 18, and his brother, Peter, 19, were driving by the orchard with their parents at about 10 p.m. Thursday when they saw the beginnings of a small grass fire. The brothers got out to help but apparently did not see the 12,000-volt live wire that had snapped and started the fire. David Connelly apparently picked up the line. “We found it in his hand,” said Greg Berry, a Sonoma County coroner’s investigator. “He probably never knew what hit him.” Peter Connelly grabbed his brother and received the full impact of the current, Berry said. Their father was hospitalized with minor burns he received when he tried to intercede and their mother also was burned slightly.