A Nanoose Bay man was killed and a co-worker was airlifted to hospital Thursday afternoon after being electrocuted while replacing rain gutters at a Parksville apartment complex.
“I’m not sure what happened,” said Dan Hodgson, manager of Pacific Manor Apartments at 169 Moilliet St. “I got a call from one of the tenants around back who said there was a ladder down and two men on the ground.”
Hodgson said one of the men was unconscious while the other was alert but “in a lot of pain.” Hodgson’s wife and one tenant performed CPR, he said, until responders arrived.
Oceanside RCMP, B.C. Ambulance Service and Parksville Volunteer Fire Department members all attended the scene. RCMP Victims Services personnel were also called to the scene to counsel family members.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Marc Pelletier confirmed one man had been taken to the playing field behind Springwood Elementary School, from where he was airlifted to hospital in Victoria.
Hodgson said the men had finished replacing rain gutters on one of the apartment buildings, and he had asked them to repair a damaged downspout in a back corner of the complex. The victims had been using a ladder to access the downspout on the third floor of the apartment complex said another witness, Wil Phillips.
“When I got there the downspout was in place,” said Hodgson. “I don’t know if they were taking the ladder down or how it happened.”
Because the incident was not criminal in nature, RCMP spokesperson Jesse Foreman said, the file will be remanded to WorkSafe BC and to the B.C. Coroner’s Service.