Co-op News
In Rescue, Co-op Lineworker is Tops
Co-op foreman Mike Seale, a self-described “pretty good climber,” has ascended many things in his day, including a 100-foot tree when he was working as a contractor.
Co-op foreman Mike Seale (left, in hard hat) scaled great heights on a radio tower to rescue a telecom worker. (Photo By: Rusk County EC)
And in the name of helping his fellow man, Seale set a personal best recently when he partially scaled a 190-foot radio tower to rescue a stranded worker overcome by triple-digit heat.
A 12-year employee of Rusk County Electric Co-op, Henderson, Texas, Seale had finished up his day’s work when the call for help came from the co-op’s engineering chief.
The two men arrived at the scene, the co-op’s New Prospect substation. Seale donned his gear, including some bottles of water and a rappelling rope. He climbed about 120 feet before retrieving the worker, an employee of a local telecom company, and handing him off to the fire department.
Mission accomplished, and Mike Seale (r) is ready to cool down. (Photo By: Rusk County EC)
“The guy was up there about 45 minutes,” Seale said. “When I got there, he was pretty dehydrated and upset, and his hands were so cramped he couldn’t open the bottles.”
The victim has since recovered.
All of this was done on a day when the heat and humidity made the temperature feel like 110 degrees. “The metal on the tower was so hot that I had to wear leather gloves,” said Seale.
Jesse “Buddy” Bankhead, the co-op’s general manager, praised Seale’s quick thinking. “He did not hesitate in responding to this very successful rescue. He took the matter at hand, strapped on his gear, and went up.”
Tags: Beyond the Call, Co-op News, Lineworkers