It wasn’t a major excavation. Ray Perkins was using an electric drill to loosen the soil beside his mobile home when things went terribly awry.
The Des Plaines resident said he was working just inches below the surface when a flash of flames burst from the ground, singeing his arms and face.
At first, Perkins didn’t know what had happened.
“I looked down at my hand to see if I lost any fingers, which I hadn’t,” he said of the June 27 accident. “Then I took stock. I could see, I could hear, I could smell.”
He looked down and saw his left arm. The skin appeared to be cooked.
“It was not a pretty sight, let’s put it that way,” Perkins said. “I was just glad to be alive.”
His brother, who was standing nearby, called an ambulance. Perkins said he spent two nights in the hospital being treated for the burns. By the time he returned home, he had a full accounting of what had occurred.
While churning the soil next to a tree to remove an unruly root, his electric drill struck a live ComEd electrical cable, about 9 inches below the surface.
Perkins said a ComEd worker examined the scene just hours after the incident, and one of the utility’s representatives called him a few days later to ask if he was all right.
He said he was — but he was worried about the wire, which remained exposed in his yard. Perkins said the ComEd representative told him the company repaired the wire, but required a separate work order to bury it.
When the cable remained unburied weeks later, Perkins called the company again, and was told someone would come out to bury it shortly, he said.
More weeks went by without a word from ComEd, he said — but he did receive a letter from the Illinois Commerce Commission. The letter blamed him for the accident, saying he dug without getting a permit or having the area surveyed by Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators, also known as JULIE.
According to state law, homeowners are supposed to call JULIE any time they disturb the earth, including such mundane activities as planting a tree or shrub.
Perkins insists he wasn’t digging, just churning the dirt near the surface, but feels that really isn’t the point.
“I don’t care whether I was right, whether I was wrong,” he said. “I just want it reburied.”
He said ComEd crews visited his house in September and November, and he was told both times the cable would be buried. One of the crews placed black-and-yellow warning tape around the wire but did not bury it.
Tired of waiting, Perkins placed plywood over the hole to protect it from neighborhood kids. Then he e-mailed What’s Your Problem?
“You can put your hand right on the cable,” he said. “It’s only 9 inches below the surface.”
Problem Partner Kristin Samuelson contacted ComEd spokesman Antonio Hernandez last week. Perkins said a neighbor reported seeing a ComEd employee examining the cable on Saturday.
On Tuesday, a trenching contractor arrived and marked the ground with white flags.
Hernandez said in a written statement Wednesday that the utility has taken steps to secure the area.
“We will temporarily rebury the cable by (Friday), and we plan to permanently install 250 feet of new underground cable at this location by March 25, as part of our ongoing efforts to enhance reliability,” Hernandez said. “ComEd regrets that this issue was not addressed sooner. The resolution of this issue was delayed, in part, due to an internal reorganization of field personnel.”
Perkins said he considers himself lucky that he wasn’t more badly injured. He’ll consider himself lucky again when the cable is actually buried.
Before you dig
State law requires you to have your yard surveyed for underground utilities before you disturb the earth.
To have your yard surveyed, dial 811. If you are in Chicago, your call will be handled by the Utilities Alert Network, also known as Digger. In the suburbs, it will be routed to the Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators, or JULIE.
Within two days, representatives from utilities who have lines buried in your area will mark your lawn to show their location.
“The main message is there’s no reason to take a chance,” said Kevin Chmura, a spokesman for JULIE. “It’s a free call and a free service.”
