San Juan Capistrano : 2 Rescue Driver After Truck Hits Power Line

A garbage truck driver was in critical condition Thursday after he was shocked by a high-voltage wire, authorities said.

Jesus Garcia, 51, of Santa Ana was outside the truck using a hydraulic arm to lift a dumpster when it touched the live wire, sending 14,000 volts surging through the truck and into Garcia’s body.

The electricity knocked Garcia to the ground and blew out one of the vehicles front tires, Orange County Fire Department spokeswoman Patti Range said.

Garcia’s head hit the ground beneath a metal, electrified step on the truck, she said, and the vehicle began to sink toward him as the tire deflated.

“Two workers ran to him and pulled him away from the truck,” Range said. “They were lucky the dumpster sunk away from the power line” or they would have been shocked, too, she added.

Garcia, who works for the Dewey Disposal Co., suffered third-degree burns on his shoulder where the electricity left his body, and second-degree burns elsewhere on his body. He was airlifted to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was listed in critical condition Thursday evening.

The two men who saved him, Eric Rosauer, 19, of San Clemente, and Mark Grosse, 26, of Lake Elsinore, were working nearby at the California Silica Sand Co. on Ortega Highway when the accident occurred about 9:30 a.m.

Range said that Rosauer and Grosse would be recommended for a special heroism award.