Powerline dangers exposed in fatal try to rescue cat

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003 | 11:04 a.m.

A Las Vegas man was electrocuted Saturday night trying to rescue a cat who climbed a power pole -- a death that illustrates why the company does not allow its employees to attempt such rescues, utility officials said.

The Clark County coroner's office has identified the man killed near Howard Avenue and 11th Street as Lee Bartels, 41, of Las Vegas. The cause of death was electrocution, the coroner's office said today.

The man, who did not own the cat, headed up the pole for the rescue about 9 p.m., Nevada Power Co. spokeswoman Sonya Headen said. She did not know who did own the cat.

Bartels must have touched a wire, fell and hit a block wall as he fell, hitting his head, she said.

"He was up there pretty high," Headen said.

The cat, meanwhile, escaped.

"The cat scurried down the pole and landed on the ground and is safe," Headen said.

Headen said today she can only find one other instance in Nevada in which a person was electrocuted after climbing a pole and trying to perform such a rescue, and that occurred in Northern Nevada.

Fire departments locally and nationwide have long had rules prohibiting risking a human life in any effort to save an animal. The utility does too.

"Such rescues not only put an employee's life in danger, but also puts the cat in danger because it gets frightened when someone approaches and can back into a line and electrocute itself," Headen said.

Nevada Power recommends putting a can of cat food or tuna at the base of the pole and remove other potential threats from the area, such as dogs, then wait.

"What goes up will come down," Headen said. "I know it's tough, but it does work."

Headen said when Nevada Power employees climb poles they usually are changing equipment or are upgrading the system. That, she said, often requires the company to turn off the electricity and notify customers of a planned area outage so that those on medical equipment can make arrangements to go elsewhere.

Headen said to inconvenience customers by shutting down electricity to an area to attempt a rescue an animal would result in numerous customer complaints.

"Our hearts out go out to the family of the man who died," Headen said, noting that the incident demonstrates the dangers of power lines and why people should avoid them."

She said the company's website (nevadapower.com) addresses such safety issues.