A short circuit issue that energized a residential dock frame caused the Sunday electrocution death of an Illinois man at Lake of the Ozarks.
After the incident Sunday, the Osage Beach Fire Protection District was called to the Route KK residence. According to Fire Chief Jeff Dorhauer, the investigation discovered the occupants of the home had reported problems with the dock's electric to the homeowner earlier that afternoon. The occupants said after the breaker was reset, it would trip after a period of 10-15 seconds, Dorhauer said.
Marcus Colburn, 21, East Moline, Illinois, and a female minor, Taylor Curley, also of East Moline, were swimming in the lake off the dock when the home's occupants tried to reset the breaker, the investigation reported. At this time, Colburn and Curley felt electrical current in the water and Colburn took hold of the ladder to exit the lake, causing his apparent electrocution.
According to the Missouri Highway Patrol's incident report, Colburn was taken to Lake Regional Hospital in Osage Beach, and Dr. Patrick Greenwood pronounced him dead at 10:14 p.m. June 21. Curley suffered minor injuries from the incident and was taken to Lake Regional Hospital for treatment.
Dorhauer said on June 22, investigators located a junction box under a deck on the house between the house breaker panel and the shoreline disconnect. While the circuit breaker and system operated as designed, investigators said the short circuit at the junction box fed power into the grounding rod at the shoreline, which energized the dock frame.
Dorhauer said each attempt to reset the breaker and turn the power on would have resulted in an energizing of the dock and the water until the breaker tripped again.
The junction box was visually inspected in May and October 2014 only to insure it was weather tight and the correct type for the usage, the news release said.
Dorhauer said the inspection of the wiring inside this junction box would not have indicated a problem.