Fall From Pole Impales 2 Men on Iron Fence

Jeff Kern was having a little trouble sitting down Wednesday afternoon. And no wonder.

The 39-year-old cable company employee fell 10 feet from a pole earlier in the day and landed on the four-inch point of a wrought iron fence, which impaled his right buttock.

Despite the pain, the Silverado Canyon resident managed to keep his sense of humor about the incident, which may keep him off the job for a while.

“I’m a little uncomfortable,” Kern said with a chuckle. “The fence was only a couple of feet high so I was able to slide myself off. It was messy.”

Kern and co-worker Kayne Slater, 22, were repairing a cable line in the 3000 block of North Sheri Street about 10 a.m. Wednesday when the incident occurred, said Orange Fire Department dispatcher Kevin Rice.

“They were both on the pole and (Kern) slipped and came down on (Slater), who was working slightly below him,” Rice said. “They both fell down the pole and landed on the wrought iron fence.”

Slater, who was on his first day on the job for Coastal Cable Construction in Orange, was also injured when one of the points pierced his left upper arm. Co-workers helped to free him, Rice said.

Both men were treated at Kaiser Permanente Hospital-Orange County in Anaheim and released. Slater left work for the day and could not be reached for comment.

Kern said he fell when the gaff that secured his footing became dislodged.

“The worst thing was that I knew what was happening and there wasn’t a darn thing I could do to stop it,” he said. “I just thought, ‘Here I go, I’m going down.’ ”