OOPS! Dispatch by Mike Watson

I witnessed a live truck hit a power line today... As a news photog, I've seen a lot of scary stuff in my day... but I have *never* been as scared/surprised as I was when that happened.

Apparently a photog for KOAT (Albuquerque, NM) was moving their live truck .. with the mast FULLY EXTENDED. He backed the mast directly into some power lines -- about 15 feet from where he was parked in the first place.

Upon hearing the explosion, he opened the door of the vehicle as if to get out.

Luckily, myself, a few other photogs, and the fire department (already on scene for the initial call out) screamed at him to NOT MOVE. He stayed in place, and while I surveyed the situation (I didn't really know what to do - the FD was already there), I looked back over... to find him, still in the live truck, with the mast still connected to the power lines, on the truck cell phone.

Some people just don't learn.

Mike Watson is a video journalist at KOB-TV, Albuquerque.
mikewatsontv@yahoo.com