A trespasser was shocked by electrical lines when he climbed a 100-foot transmission tower in Santa Rosa on Tuesday afternoon, starting a fire on the ground when he fell and causing more than 2,000 homes and businesses to lose power, officials said.
Bystanders reported the man plummeted from the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. tower at 56 W. Sixth St. along Prince Memorial Greenway in Santa Rosa at about 1:45 p.m., according to the Santa Rosa Fire Department.
The man, whose name and age were not released, was about 80 feet up the tower when he apparently came in contact with the live wires and fell to the ground into a patch of dry grass, which caught fire, witnesses told firefighters.