Officials: Youth injured after coming into contact with power line

CLOVIS — A person was injured after coming into contact with a power line Tuesday night, according to first responders and Xcel Energy.

Clovis Fire Chief Mike Nolen did not identify the minor, but noted he received third-degree burns to his arm, hand and both legs and was fully conscious when he was transported to Plains Regional Medical Center.

According to Xcel Energy spokesman Wes Reeves, the company received a report from first responders at 7:24 p.m. that a person trespassed into Xcel’s east Clovis substation and was injured after making contact with energized equipment.

“In order to protect the safety of the first responders,” Reeves said, “we de-energized the substation, resulting in an outage to 4,555 customers in that section of the city. First responders were able to help the person out of the substation, and we restored services at 7:40 p.m.”

Nolen credited Xcel for help on the event, noting his department set up lighting and paramedics outside the substation ready to give treatment while an Xcel employee used a bucket truck and “removed the individual from the area he was perched on.”

When asked about Nolen’s account, Reeves said the company’s report wasn’t yet concluded and couldn’t confirm specifics.

We’ll have more information as it becomes available.