One person dead, three firefighters ‘electrocuted’ amid Lake Mary sidewalk collapse

Orlando, Fla. — A sidewalk collapsed Friday morning in a Lake Mary gated community killing a county worker who was repairing a water main break, according to the Seminole County Fire Department.

It happened at about 10:40 a.m. on the 200 block of Chiswell Place in the Heathrow Woods community off Markham Woods Rd.

Three firefighters working to extract the victim were also injured when a nearby transformer electrified the sidewalk hole.

The firefighters were shocked by the electricity and transported to the hospital where they are expected to make a full recovery.

“When they got in the hole trying to extricate the patient with the jaws of life to lift the sidewalk, that’s when the hole was electrically charged,” says Seminole County Fire Chief Otto Drozd.

Officials said the man who died was an employee of the Seminole County environmental service department.

The victim was reportedly pinned by the fallen concrete and succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

Fire Chief Drozd believes shifting sand may have played a role in the collapse.

The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and the State Fire Marshal’s Office are now investigating.

Here is a 911 call made from the scene, provided by the Seminole County Fire Department (long pauses have been shortened.)

Cox Media Group