LONG BEACH : Man Touches High-Voltage Line, Is Critically Burned
A young man who authorities suspect might have been intoxicated was critically burned when he came in contact with a 66,000-volt electrical line while scaling a utility tower in Long Beach on Wednesday.
Sterling Whiteside, 21, of Torrance suffered second- and third-degree burns to his arms, face, chest and left leg, said Bob Caldon, spokesman for the Long Beach Fire Department. Paramedics took him to an area hospital and he was expected to be transferred to a hospital with a burn unit.
Whiteside and a friend had been in rubber rafts and were going through a channel adjacent to the Southern California Edison plant at 2665 W. Seaside Way, Caldon said.
Whiteside, for unknown reasons, decided to climb one of the plant’s three high-voltage towers although the area is clearly marked with no trespassing and warning signs, authorities said.
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