Movie Set Burn Victim Has Surgery

A man who suffered severe electrical burns during the filming of a Disney movie in rural San Bernardino County last week was in serious but stable condition Saturday after surgery at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital.

David Riggio, 33, of Encino was badly burned when a camera boom he was handling shot 40 feet into the air and struck a cross-country power line carrying 115,000 volts of electricity. Riggio suffered burns over 6% of his body, including on his hands, chest and his feet, where the current exited.

Most seriously injured was his right foot, said hospital spokesman Larry Weinberg.

“The fourth and fifth toes on his right foot are in danger of amputation, and the [front] section of the foot is very, very, very damaged,” Weinberg said. “We’ll have to watch it for the next few weeks.”

On Saturday morning three plastic surgeons cut away dead tissue to prevent infection and to prepare Riggio’s flesh for skin grafts--a process called “debridement.” Doctors dressed the wounds with cadaver skin, Weinberg said.

Riggio faces at least two more weeks in the hospital and then several months of rehabilitation and physical therapy, Weinberg said. The burn center will also offer counseling services.

Another member of the crew, Matthew Gordy, 31, of Thousand Oaks was killed in the accident, which occurred Wednesday morning at a job site near the desert town of Trona, 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles. A third worker was treated for less serious injuries at nearby Ridgecrest Community Hospital and released.

The Disney crew was filming live-action sequences for the animated movie “Dinosaur” at the time.

Cal/OSHA officials are investigating the accident.