HILDALE — Life Flight transported to the hospital a 13-year-old boy from the area of mile marker 6 on state Route 59 in Washington County late Saturday afternoon after he was electrocuted, Hildale Fire Chief Kevin Barlow said, and then fell onto a fence. (See ed. clarification.)

Around 5 p.m., a boy was reportedly dared by his friends to climb a power pole to retrieve a rubber snubber that had been thrown and had landed near a transformer, Hildale Fire Chief Kevin Barlow said. Upon accepting the dare, the boy shimmied up the power pole, Barlow said. While he was attempting to retrieve the object, the boy came in contact with a live wire.

The wire severely burned the boy and the electric shock caused him to fall from the pole and land on a fence. The voltage of the line is 7,200 volts, Barlow said.

Hildale Fire Department and Life Flight air transport responded to the boy’s aid. Life Flight transported the boy to Salt Lake Regional Medical Center.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

Ed. CLARIFICATIONS: The correct verb is shinny, not shimmy. Though reported as electrocuted, the word more often denotes death, which is not the case. Both words have been corrected and or amended both in the headline and report for clarity; quoted material stands as spoken.

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