Aerial Lift Strikes Power Line, Catches Fire in Stearns County

No injuries were reported after an aerial lift stuck a power line and caught fire on County Road 1 in Brockway Township in Stearns County on December 6th.

Approximately 4:57 p.m., the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received a phone call saying an aerial lift was stuck on a power line just three miles north of Sartell. It was reported that two people were in the lift as high as 30 feet from the ground as the lift refused to go down and soon caught fire. The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office says they, along with the assistance of neighbors and homeowners in the area, used fire extinguishers to put out majority of the fire on and around the lift. The power source to the line was turned off by Xcel Energy and they soon removed the entangled line. The two men were removed from the top of the lift by the Sartell Fire Department.

Deputies learned that the homeowner was hanging holiday lights in a tree when he struck the power line. No injuries were reported, and the aerial lift was disabled.