Man electrically injured in Cape Coral near LCEC substation

Published: Updated:

A man was taken to the hospital after being electrically injured near a Lee County Electric Cooperative station in Cape Coral.

The Cape Coral Police Department and emergency service crews responded to the scene late Sunday evening on Southeast Eighth Place, near the Cape Coral and Coronado parkways.

“I’ve worked at LCEC for 28 years, and we have never had a situation where this has occurred,” said Karen Ryan, a spokesperson for Lee County Electric Cooperative.

According to CCPD, the man was at the substation without authorization, and he was shocked.

“It was a big flash in the air. So, whatever was going on there? Somebody hit something wrong because it lit up the whole sky there, you know it was, it was dark,” said Terry Pease, who lives in a surrounding community.

“All of a sudden I saw a big flash in the sky, and all the and it made, it made a noise, and then all the power went out in the whole neighborhood, and it was out for about, I don’t know, about 10 minutes,” said Pease. “Shortly after that, we saw the helicopter was circling around here. We just figured maybe one of the workers were working down there, and something happened.”

Cape police confirmed the unauthorized person was airlifted for medical treatment after coming into contact with electricity.

“It is life-threatening to go inside of a substation if you’re not trained,” said Ryan.

It’s a situation Ryan describes as a rare occurrence and describes the substations as being pretty tough to break into.

“It is very difficult. There are fences and walls around every single substation. There is signage that says, you know, ‘Danger: Do not enter.’ Even if I wanted to get into a substation, I would not be able to get into it without doing something illegal.”

The condition of the man remains unknown. It has not been confirmed if the man entered the substation.

WINK News has contacted LCEC for more information regarding this scene.

Our reporters are waiting for a response.

Stay tuned to WINKNews.com, WINK News App, streaming, and on air for any new developments on this story.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.