CHARLOTTE — A woman was electrocuted Tuesday evening after coming into contact with downed power lines in southeast Charlotte, where severe storms caused a tree branch to fall onto overhead lines, igniting fires and knocking electrical wires to the ground, officials said.
Neighbor Mark Fox told Channel 9 that a tree branch crashed into power lines in front of his home along Craig Avenue.
Surveillance video captured the next three minutes when power lines lit the sky.
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“Things started happening left and right,” Fox said. “The explosion. This power line was live. It was on fire.”
The damaged power lines snapped and fell to the ground.
Cellphone video showed flames racing along the grass as neighbors watched helplessly.
“There was a flame this high all the way along there, and it was crackling and smoking and burning and wiggling,” Fox said. “It was terrifying to watch.”
Fox discovered a woman on the ground. She had been electrocuted.
Charlotte Fire said the woman came in contact with several power lines.
“Thinking about what her last moments must have been like a poor innocent person walking along and to get electrocuted, its horrible,” Fox said.
In a statement, Duke Energy told Channel 9: “Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of the individual involved in this incident. We will continue to work with local authorities to investigate the situation.”
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and Duke Energy are investigating the incident.
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