Harvest turned hazardous: Michigan farmer's quick escape from power line disaster

MCBAIN, M.I. & BRANDON, S.D. — Sept. 12 was the first day of the corn chopping season at the Lucky 7 Dairy in McBain, Michigan, and easily could've been the last for farm owner J.P. Koop.

As the farm crew prepared to kick off the season, they came together for a safety meeting to get a refresher on things to be aware of as they started to chop corn. At the end of that meeting, the crew said a prayer for safety, a prayer that Koop said saved his life.

Then they went out and started to open the corn fields.

At about 1 p.m., Koop was opening a field with the chopper when the driver whose truck he was filling warned him that he was getting close to a high-voltage power line.

That warning didn't come soon enough.

"As soon as he said that, as quick as I could turn around, I hit the line," Koop recalled.

Once the chopper made contact with the power line, it essentially welded itself to the chute on the chopper. Within seconds, it had blown the hydraulic cylinder that holds the chute up and started the chopper on fire.

"I looked back, I saw that happen, then I quick look forward and the head of my chopper looked like there was ten welders welding on it from all the sparks and stuff flying out of the head of the chopper," Koop said.

He had only seconds to figure out what he was going to do next. He started by turning off the chopper. He then opened the door on the chopper and saw that the back tires had already exploded and were on fire and the front tires were also on fire.

"I knew that with the amount of voltage going through there that if the rims came in contact with the ground, at least that's what I assumed, I would get electrocuted," he said. "So, I roll it around in my mind for a few split seconds. Do I jump? Is that the safest thing to do? They always say stay with the vehicle, but I knew the vehicle wasn't going to be safe to be on at all in a matter of seconds."

Koop assumed there would be a breaker on the power line that would kick off and make it stop. But that is not the case because it was a main transmission line.

So, he decided it was best to get away from the vehicle as quickly as possible.

"I decided to jump. I stood up on the hand railing of the chopper and bent my knees and jumped as hard as I could away from the chopper," Koop said. "The ground was kind of smoking and before I jumped, it went through my mind, I'm either going to die in the chopper or probably die on the ground."

The handrail is around 10 feet off of the ground. He thankfully fell forward, but there was still voltage in the ground.

"I jumped and hit the ground, and I could feel power go through my hands and my knees and my feet. I couldn't really stand up, so I crawled away until I got out of that ripple effect to the power and was able to stand up," Koop said. "Once I did, I was able to kind of half stumble and run away because I didn't want the power lines to fall on me."

Within a matter of 10 to 15 minutes, the chopper was destroyed.

"It burned up so fast and the tanks blew up everything, the cab and everything," he said.

The heat caused the power line to burn and fall down, which caused it to ground itself out.

Koop was checked out in the ambulance and was told to go to the hospital. His doctors were shocked to discover he had no burns anywhere and the shock only caused a slight affect to his heart, which they were able to get back into rhythm.

The doctors, the power company employees and emergency responders all told Koop he shouldn't have been able to survive an incident like that.

"It sinks in more everyday how God had protected me through all that and there was a number of things that could have happened that would have taken my life," Koop said. "But I can see his providence by me sitting here talking to you today."

While Koop's story is an amazing one, power line accidents are a common occurrence.

Terry Ebright, manager of safety at Sioux Valley Energy in Brandon, South Dakota, says that they report power line incidents every month.

"We generally have farmers that get tangled up in the overhead lines, maybe knock a poll over, or at times. Even with our underground equipment, we've got green boxes that sit along the edge of the fields, and they'll get too close to them, they may run them over or just slide it off the pad," Ebright said. "Believe it or not, a lot of lawnmower incidents out on the farms of people mowing lawns hit a transformer. Zero turns move pretty quickly so they can knock them right off the pad with those too."

Safety meetings are something both Ebright and Koop say are important to have on the farm.

"Every farmer should have some sort of tailgate conference or a little meeting with either hired men or the members of the family that are going to help on the farm. Have one in the spring before they start planting and have one in the fall before they start their harvest," Ebright said. "Then maybe take the time once a week, just pull them back together and give them reminders and include the overhead and underground power lines."

"It's very important on a farm. There's a lot of ways to die," Koop said.

Some of the things that Koop discusses during his crew's safety meetings include situational awareness, watching the equipment, watching for traffic, understanding that you are operating big equipment and knowing how to position the equipment.

Ebright says that while hazards on the farm like PTO shafts and working in grain bins are often talked about, power lines need to be included in those farm safety conversations.

"The power lines are the ones that we drive by them every day, and we just get accustomed to them being there, and we forget about them," he said. "I think it's a real hazard and one that we need to remind the people that are going in and out of the fields of."

There are several power line safety tips that Ebright would like to remind farmers of this harvest season:

1. If you've purchased any equipment, check the ride heights on them to ensure you will not be hitting power lines.
2. If you do have an incident with a power line, stay in or on the equipment. Do not exit unless someone has given you the OK to do so.
3. However, if the equipment is on fire, you do need to exit. In that case, you should jump clear of the piece of equipment, never touching it and the ground at the same time. Once you jump, hop or shuffle your feet to get away at least 30 feet.

Electrical things to steer clear of include transformers, power lines, underground pedestals and large switch gear, which can cost upwards of $100,000 to replace if they are hit.

"So, there's also a financial deal here too. You're going to want to be careful to not damage that equipment, because you'll be responsible for it financially as well," Ebright said.

If someone does hit or damage something electrical, Ebright says to call 911. Those dispatchers will get ahold of the area electrical cooperative's dispatch center.

As for Koop, while he is still shaken up from the incident, he is back in the chopper seat finishing what he started.

"I had to, I had to get back in," he said. "I was very nervous. Actually yesterday [Sept. 18], we chopped the field that I opened up last week. I knew we were going to have to do it. We drove by that chopper a number of times and just yeah, it was little sweaty palms and watching everything and just being that much more aware of your surroundings."

Koop says following the accident, he and his crew are doing an even better job of communicating with each other during corn chopping and are staying more aware of power lines. In the future, he plans to give a wide space between the crops and the power lines.