The incident occurred shortly before noon at U.S. Highway 20 near the Fox River. The Elgin spokesperson said a lift bucket holding two workers reportedly came into contact with an electrical power line electrocuting both of them.
"It looks like he was going up in the cherry picker and he smacked the line," said Joe McMahon, witness.
"I just noticed the workers up there and thought that's a pretty scary job to be up there," said Dave Koehnke, witness.
The two were said hired by the Illinois Department of Transportation to paint the bridge over the Fox River. Fire crews found their bucket truck engulfed in flames and when they put out the fire they found the two men dead inside the lift bucket.
"It's very scary. It's sad. To see them smoking -- it's scary," said Koehnke. "Nobody likes to see that."
The victims have not been identified. Family members and friends were on the scene but were too distraught to comment.
