Colleagues Mourn Linemen Killed on Job

They were good men. Good family men with a love for the job and an affinity for cracking jokes.

What’s more, said colleagues of two Southern California Edison linemen who were killed while working Monday, they were just doing their job.

While Cal/OSHA officials investigated the cause of the fatal city of Industry explosion, a five-member Edison crew tried to work around the damage Tuesday--clearing away charred gloves and tools and finishing their co-workers’ job.

“It could have been any one of us,” said Larry Levario, an Edison worker, surveying the nondescript industrial park where a transformer exploded 24 hours earlier, killing foreman Adel J. Boyadjian, 31, of La Verne and lineman Steven F. Peralta Jr., 35, of Victorville.

By midmorning Tuesday the crew was exhausted and philosophic. They had not eaten in 14 hours and had not slept in more than 24.

“Usually we rest for about an hour or so, but not with this thing,” Levario said. “This is a whole different type of thing.”

It was the type of thing that reminded them just how dangerous their jobs are--and how willing they are to take risks, said Trini Arciaga, one of two foremen who worked around the clock to replace the smoldering power pole.

“If a transformer is going to blow, it’s going to blow,” said Arciaga, who was hired by Edison 14 years ago as a meter reader. “If it’s your time, it’s your time.”

Gesturing toward Adrian Diaz, an apprentice on the job, Arciaga said: “This is a good experience for him. If he’s man enough to stick this out, he’ll do good.”

Sweeping the charred remains of a utility pole, Diaz said the incident has “opened his eyes.”

“I don’t know if I’d be able to handle it. It’d be hard to see your friends, crew members like that,” Diaz said. “The hardest part for me has been having to see all [Boyadjian and Peralta’s] burned equipment--the same equipment we use.”

Edison dispatched Arciaga’s crew from the company’s Whittier office to avoid sending workers who knew the two victims. But “everyone knows everyone,” Arciaga said, noting that he planned to go on a fishing trip with Boyadjian in August.

Employees who worked closely with Boyadjian and Peralta on a daily basis were given the day off to mourn, Edison officials said.

No official memorial service had been planned as of Tuesday afternoon, but flags outside the corporate headquarters in Rosemead were at half-staff.

In the Compton district office, where Boyadjian worked until he was transferred to the Covina office a month ago, workers gathered Tuesday morning to reflect upon the accident.

“A few linemen spoke. There were a couple of guys there who were hit hard,” said general foreman Tony Del Rio, talking between sobs during a phone interview. “He transferred to be closer to his family--he has a beautiful family [with two school-age children]. He was only gone for a month, and we already missed him. Now we’re really going to miss him.”

After working for 28 hours--amid the stench and the all-too-prevalent debris of the fire, Arciaga and his crew lingered at the site. Foreman Todd Allen hammered flowers to the utility pole, and he and Arciaga silently placed votive candles at its base.

“I think we’ll go home and collect our thoughts,” Arciaga said. “Then I’ll probably have a beer in the garage. Like I always do.”