Tree worker dies after equipment hits power line in Berks County
A 31-year-old man died Wednesday morning after being electrocuted while doing a tree-trimming job at a Berks County home, according to the Berks County Coroner’s Office.
Officials said the deadly workplace accident happened in Exeter Township just before 11 a.m.
According to the coroner’s office, dispatch received a report around 10:54 a.m. of a tree worker in a bucket truck behind a home in the 4000 block of Grant Street. The man, from Reading, was employed by a local tree service company and had reportedly been trimming a hedgerow when his equipment came into contact with an electrical power line.
First responders arrived and began investigating the incident.
The coroner’s office responded to the home at 11:33 a.m. and declared the man dead at the scene.
The victim has not been identified.
An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday at Reading Hospital. The cause and manner of death remain under investigation.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was notified of the incident and sent an investigator to the scene as part of the ongoing workplace safety investigation.
