I worked with a crane operator when I was doing freeway construction. He was loaned out to one of our other jobs in Orange County. One day they had crane work to do in very close proximity to some power lines and our supervisors told the power company so. Power company says "No worries. We'll de-energize them". Next morning supervisor contacts them again to check "It's OK and safe". Junior gets to workin' with the crane, couple hours later swinging a load into position the load line contacts the power line. Junior was watching the load, 2 carpenters watching for any other clearance issues. Apparently "de-energized" does not mean disconnected. Junior said he knew he was screwed when the tires on the rig burst into flame. He managed to jump to safety from the operator's seat without touching anything conductive. Anything combustible on the rig did just that. I saw him a couple days later when he came back, he still had this look about him
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