The lawsuit claims the co-op failed to adequately maintain lines, equipment
A man who was electrocuted while cleaning a wood burning stove chimney pipe is suing the Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative for failure to adequately maintain its power lines and equipment, leading to his injuries and burns on more than 50% of his body.
Presiliano Salazar was cleaning the chimney on the metal roof of his sister’s home April 29, 2024 in Coyote. According to the lawsuit filed in First Judicial District Court on Jan. 13, Salazar experienced an arc flash injury that threw him backward, causing him to hit his head and receive a traumatic brain injury, as well as other physical and mental injuries.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, arc flashes produce a bright flash gas that can reach temperatures of more than 35,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Salazar is suing the cooperative, the Cooperative Foundation and Valor Telecommunications of Texas, LLC, which operates in New Mexico as Windstream Communications Southwest.
According to the lawsuit, the co-op failed to inspect, maintain, repair, replace and clean the overhead power line and associated electrical structures and equipment.
The co-op’s and the Foundation’s “acts and/or omissions, individually and/or vicariously placed Plaintiff Presiliano Salazar and other’s at the Ortega Property at an unreasonable risk of foreseeable harm, and specifically of severe electrical injury or death,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states that electricity to the home was delivered through two wires: a single-phase primary conductor and neutral line. After the incident, co-op employee Jim Wiseman inspected, photographed and measured the lines. The primary conductor line was six to seven feet above the roof’s ridge cap, the seal over the roof peak, while the neutral line was measured at two to three feet above. Wiseman found the communication line lying directly on the roof.
According to the lawsuit, the co-op and Windstream lines violated National Electric Safety Code (NESC) and were “improperly installed, operated, inspected and/or maintained,” and did not meet minimum clearance heights.
The filing also contains photos showing trees growing around the lines above the home, which also violated the NESC, the lawsuit alleges.
The co-op has a joint pole use agreement with Windstream that allows the company to run communications lines on the electric poles.
The lawsuit also alleges the co-op and Windstream failed to determine the sag and vertical clearance of the lines when they replaced the crossarm at the top of a power pole that was recently installed on the property. The date of the installation was not included in the lawsuit.
Injuries
The Española Fire Department removed Salazar from the roof. He was taken by air ambulance to The University of New Mexico Hospital. That same day, he was transferred to the burn center at University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas by air ambulance. The lawsuit lists 17 injuries Salazar sustained due to the incident, and 16 ongoing issues due to the injuries.