By Beth Slovic
oregonlive.com
PORTLAND, Ore. 鈥� An unidentified person in Southeast Portland鈥檚 Sellwood neighborhood is lucky to be alive after they climbed a PGE tower to take a selfie, and fell 40 feet into bushes along railroad tracks near Sellwood Riverfront Park on Wednesday, firefighters said.
The dramatic events unfolded just after 5 p.m. when one witness said the person fell while trying to take a picture from the steel tower and another witness said they heard a 鈥渢ransformer blow鈥� before the person dropped to the ground. An off-duty paramedic who happened to be nearby later told firefighters the person 鈥渨as conscious and breathing immediately after the fall.鈥� The person survived, in what firefighters called 鈥渁 stroke of incredibly good luck.鈥�
It wasn鈥檛 immediately clear if the person touched the power line or, as firefighters wrote in a press release, the 鈥減ower line arced and caused the electrocution.鈥�
An ambulance took the person to a trauma hospital for evaluation since injuries from an electrocution, including heart arrhythmia, aren鈥檛 always immediately visible.
The person鈥檚 fall appears to have snapped a lower-voltage power line, which then draped across the railroad tracks. Firefighters guarded the area to prevent passersby in the popular park from walking into it.
A spokesperson for the Portland Fire Bureau wrote: 鈥淲e would also like to remind Portlanders to stay far away from any downed power lines and to always assume any line down is energized and dangerous. If you see a downed power line, carefully back away and call 911.鈥�
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