WEST VALLEY CITY — An electrician injured after getting caught in an electrical explosion on Saturday said he’s grateful paramedics arrived quickly to treat him and four others who were injured.
“It’s just nuts,” said Dax Neilson, one of the contracted electricians.
Neilson said the group was contracted to remove wires that needed to be replaced from an industrial building in West Valley City.
“We cut power to the whole building,” he said. “I’m sitting there waiting for my buddy to pass me a tool, next thing I know like (a) flash of light (and) a loud, loud noise.”
Neilson described what took place as an explosion that knocked him out. When he woke up, Neilson said his hat caught on fire, leaving him with burns across his face. And saw his co-worker “rolling around on fire.”
That co-worker suffered serious burns and was taken to the University of Utah Hospital in critical condition, according to West Valley fire officials. Neilson and another person were taken to a local hospital in fair condition. Two others were treated on scene.
“What I have, like my face and stuff, the burns are going to be pretty annoying to deal with. But my buddy, he’s got full body burns,” Neilson said. “Burns and like electrical injuries like this are probably some of the scariest out here. So, it’s very good that (the paramedics) were here quick.”
Neilson said he’s not sure what caused the explosion but said incidents like the one he experienced are rare.
“We weren’t just messing around. Every single person there I look up to, I know they know what they’re doing. I trust every single one of them,” he said.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
