Injured lineman in burn unit in Portland after outage occurs in The Dalles on Feb. 1
A Yates Line Company crew was huddled up at this power pole site on Webber Street on Thursday afternoon after one of their lineman was injured and taken to a Portland Hospital on Feb. 1.
By Tom Peterson
The Dalles, Ore., Feb. 2, 2024 — The lineman who was injured while working on a powerline in The Dalles was taken to a burn unit at a Portland hospital and was listed in stable condition as of last night.
The lineman, who works for Yates Line Company out of Garibaldi was injured around 11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2 while working on powerlines owned by The Dalles Irrigation District (TDID).
The work was going on near Cascade Square on W. Sixth Street when the man was injured and power was lost to some 300 customers in the area, including grocery stores such as Safeway.
Irrigation President Casy Pink said Yates was contracted to do the work for TDID as the district has its own powerlines to supply electricity to pumps that bring water from The Columbia up to orchards in and around The Dalles. The Distirct contracts with private companies to perform the powerline maintenance.
The Dalles Irrigation District Board of Directors. Dane Klindt, Mike Omeg, Elizabeth Polehn, Dave Meyer and President Casey Pink. Photo taken from the district website.
“Our hopes and prayers go out to the guy,” Pink said on Friday Morning. “He’s got a family. We’re just hoping he will be alright.”
There is no word, yet, as to the cause of the incident.
Northern Wasco County People’s Utility District was neither involved in the work nor aware of the work taking place, it said in a public statement on Feb. 1. “Our team is investigating the incident to learn what happened and take steps to limit the possibility of it happening again.”
“We understand a worker was injured and we hope for their swift and full recovery. Our customer service representatives have no other information to share about the incident or the condition of anyone involved, so please do not call them with those questions. We will share additional information as it becomes available.”
On Thursday, a Yates Line Company crew was huddled up at this power pole site on Webber Street across from Burger King in The Dalles around 2:15 p.m. The group stated information would come later.
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