Minneapolis firefighters work to rescue man in bucket truck burned by powerline

Minneapolis firefighters work to rescue man in bucket truck burned by powerline
October 27, 2025

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Minneapolis firefighters work to rescue man in bucket truck burned by powerline

A man working in a bucket truck was hospitalized Monday in Minneapolis after he was badly burned when he came into contact with a powerline.

Fire crews responded just before 3 p.m. to a truck in the 2600 block of Lincoln Street NE. in Minneapolis, in the alleyway between Johnston and Lincoln streets.

They responded after getting reports of a man with a chainsaw in a bucket truck who was unconscious after coming into contact with the powerline, Assistant Minneapolis Fire Chief Melanie Rucker said in an email.

Firefighters arrived and requested that Xcel Energy respond because the truck was still touching live electrical wires. The truck was “not operatable” and crews could not bring down the boom, Rucker said.

After Xcel arrived, the workers shut down the powerline and used their own bucket truck to move the man into the Xcel truck and bring him down. He was conscious but severely burned from an electric shock, Rucker said.

The man was hired as a tree trimmer by the house’s resident, according to Xcel Energy spokesman Kevin Coss.

A neighbor who wished to remain anonymous said he was in his home office when he heard a boom and the power went out in his home, followed by shouts of pain from the worker.

He went outside to see the man slumped over unconscious in the truck’s bucket and the chainsaw turned on next to him.

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