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Workers back on solid ground after getting stuck in cherry picker

Everett workers not injured in incident

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Workers back on solid ground after getting stuck in cherry picker
Everett workers not injured in incident
Two construction workers in Everett are back on solid ground after getting stuck in a cherry picker for five hours when it hit a high voltage power line on Friday afternoon.Watch the reportThe cherry picker was seared from the 150,000-volt shock, but the two men inside were not injured."It's scary enough to be that high, and with the power wire right there you could get zapped," witness Dennis Reyes said.Firefighters said the two men were working on a building under construction in Everett when the cherry picker somehow hit one of the power lines.The shock immobilized it and kept the men stranded, 40 feet in the air, for five hours until line crews could shut the power off and ensure there was no danger."Thankfully no one was hurt," Michael Menzie, of NationalGrid, said. "It took a while to get equipment here to keep the area safe."But even getting the men back onto the ground was tricky. The platform wouldn't level out and they had to hang on as tools and building materials started slipping off."I saw a big bucket tip, and I said, 'Please don't let them fall,'" Reyes said.But with a few maneuvers they were finally able to make it safely onto solid ground."We started clapping when they came down," Reyes said. "God bless them. They get to go home to their families tonight."

Two construction workers in Everett are back on solid ground after getting stuck in a cherry picker for five hours when it hit a high voltage power line on Friday afternoon.

Watch the report

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The cherry picker was seared from the 150,000-volt shock, but the two men inside were not injured.

"It's scary enough to be that high, and with the power wire right there you could get zapped," witness Dennis Reyes said.

Firefighters said the two men were working on a building under construction in Everett when the cherry picker somehow hit one of the power lines.

The shock immobilized it and kept the men stranded, 40 feet in the air, for five hours until line crews could shut the power off and ensure there was no danger.

"Thankfully no one was hurt," Michael Menzie, of NationalGrid, said. "It took a while to get equipment here to keep the area safe."

But even getting the men back onto the ground was tricky. The platform wouldn't level out and they had to hang on as tools and building materials started slipping off.

"I saw a big bucket tip, and I said, 'Please don't let them fall,'" Reyes said.

But with a few maneuvers they were finally able to make it safely onto solid ground.

"We started clapping when they came down," Reyes said. "God bless them. They get to go home to their families tonight."