Underground Vault Explosion Kills One Worker, Injures Another and Cuts Power to Phoenix High-Rise Buildings

PHOENIX (AP) — A fire in an underground utility vault killed one worker, injured a second and cut power to numerous high-rise buildings Monday in downtown Phoenix, possibly for a few days, authorities said. The explosion happened Sunday night while two workers for Arizona Public Service, the state's largest utility, were doing maintenance work, the utility said. Power was cut to the four major buildings downtown, including the main Maricopa County administration building. About 1,000 workers had to either take Monday off or work from home, county spokesman Fields Moseley said. Several other buildings had only partial power through the day, and light rail was running with delayed service.   Trials and hearings at the Maricopa County Superior Court complex were cancelled Monday but scheduled to resume on Tuesday. Courts spokesman Bryan Bouchard said the building had power but officials acted because of power outages in nearby buildings and traffic issues. Phoenix Police identified the worker who died as Ricardo Castillo, known to his co-workers as Rico. The 12-year APS electrician was a husband, father, son and grandfather and worked in youth and men's ministry at his church, APS said. Phoenix station FOX 10 (KSAZ-TV) reported that Castillo would have celebrated his 42nd birthday on Monday. He was a member of the Grace Walk Church in Phoenix. APS spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said the utility was working to determine if there were ways to get temporary power to the four ma...
Source: JEMS Operations - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: News Patient Care AP News Tag Operations Source Type: news