5 workers injured by electric shock while hanging gutter at LaSalle County home

GRAND RIDGE, Ill. (WLS) -- Five workers were injured by an electric shock while hanging new gutters at a home in Grand Ridge, near Streator, in LaSalle County Tuesday.

Fire officials said they got the call about the incident around 11 a.m. They said the five workers, from a company based in Roanoke, Ill., were putting up an aluminum gutter when it came into contact with a power line.

The workers were all on aluminum ladders and touching portions of the house when the gutter became electrified. All five were shocked at the same time, the fire department said, and fell 25 feet off their ladders to the ground.

A total of eight ambulances were called in response to the incident. Three of the workers are hospitalized in critical condition; the other two are in serious condition. One worker had to be taken by Life Flight from the scene to a hospital, while another worker had to be taken by Life Flight from a hospital in Peoria to a different hospital in Springfield, fire officials said.

The Grand Ridge Fire Department is still investigating the incident, but the fire chief did note that if the power company had been notified about the work they would have sent someone out to sheath the wires ahead of time.

OSHA officials also responded to the scene and are conducting their own investigation.

The homeowner would not comment to ABC7 on the incident.