TVSpy
In what could have been a fatal accident, a reporter and photographer for WSB-TV in Atlanta drove a news van, with its transmission mast still up, into high-voltage power lines on Wednesday. Reporter Tom Jones and photographer Leonard Raglin narrowly escaped the accident, which caused a fire and explosions according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jones and Raglin were treated for minor injuries and released from Grady Memorial Hospital.
Jeff Wilson, an engineer for Georgia Power, emphasized how dangerous the situation was, telling CBS-affiliate WGCL that the two men were “damn lucky.” “This is a transmission line,” he explained, “which means it transmits high voltage electricity.”
Jones and Raglin were covering a story at the Fulton County jail. When production had wrapped, they packed up their equipment but accidentally left the WSB van’s transmission mast all the way up. According to WGCL, the van drove out of the parking lot while several Fulton County deputies spotted the impending danger, but it was too late.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before. I’ve never seen this magnitude of an explosion,” Fulton County Deputy Reginald Turner said.