Published: December 22, 2008 08:29 pm      

One killed, another injured in construction accident in Whitfield

A Chatsworth man was killed in a construction accident off Highway 41 South Monday afternoon and another man was in critical condition in a Dalton hospital Monday night.

Glenn Stone, 44, of 1592 Goswick Road, was helping steady a metal utility pole that was being put up to serve as a flagpole at Dalton Plaza South, a shopping area near the Carbondale exit off I-75, according to a fellow worker. He was apparently electrocuted. Whitfield County coroner Bobbie Dixon said Stone was pronounced dead at 5:17 p.m.

Dan Driscoll, who was helping on the project, said the pole was being put in place with the use of a tractor with a bucket on the front when the pole began to fall into a set of power lines.

“It just wasn’t secure yet,” said Driscoll, a worker for subcontractor Jerry Shelton. Shelton was also helping steady the pole.

“They lost control, and when it started to fall they still tried to control it, and wouldn’t let go of the pole,” Driscoll said. “I saw it was going to fall into those high-power lines so I ran to jump into a ditch because I knew the lines were going to snap back toward me. I heard a small buzz when it hit the lines, and then there was a loud bang like when a transformer blows. When I got back up I saw Jerry running to the other guy, who was on his knees. Then he fell over.”

Shelton was taken to Hamilton Medical Center, where a spokeswoman said he was in critical condition Monday night. He was being prepared to be taken to a hospital with a burn unit.

A black mark could be seen near the top of the utility pole that still had a street lamp attached to it. Driscoll said Shelton had subcontracted the job from the owners of the shopping center.

Power was knocked out for over an hour at the shopping center. Miller Brothers Rib Shack had a sign on its door saying it was closed because of the outage. Domino’s pizza reopened later.

“I didn’t see it happen,” said Tim Beaver, manager of Domino’s. “But it looked like the power company, fire department, deputies and some type of emergency response team were here pretty quick.”

Driscoll said someone ran to the nearby volunteer fire department for help and that ambulances were on the scene within minutes.

Jeff Rancudo, communications specialist with North Georgia Electric Membership Corp., said, “We are aware of the (power) outages and the accident is under investigation.”