Girl, 14, electrocuted at Druid Hill Park
May 6, 2006
A 14-year-old girl who leaned against a fence during a church softball game was electrocuted about 8 o'clock last night at Druid Hill Park, a fire official said.
Teammates said they saw the girl, whose name was not released, put her foot on the fence and then fall to the ground, said Kevin Cartwright, a spokesman for the Baltimore Fire Department. The girl, who was not breathing, was transported to Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Linda Foy, a spokeswoman for BGE, said that after a preliminary investigation into the incident, it appeared that BGE's equipment was not involved. She said it was unclear last night whose equipment was.
Carolyn Bethea, commissioner of the Christian Co-Ed Softball League, a group of about 16 church teams that play softball Fridays and Saturdays, said the girl was playing for a team associated with Colonial Baptist Church in Randallstown.
Bethea, who plays for a team sponsored by a church called Set The Captives Free Outreach Center, which was playing a double-header against Colonial Baptist, said that after the girl fell to the ground she started breathing erratically.
Bethea said the girl's mother was with her and was "watching her little girl." Bethea said members of both teams prayed over the girl until paramedics took her away in the ambulance.
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun
Parks' underground cables to be checked
May 11, 2006
A contractor will survey city parks for underground cables near metal fences after the recent electrocution of a 14-year-old softball player at Druid Hill Park, city officials said yesterday.
"We want to know where the lines are and if any of them could pose a hazard," said Raquel Guillory, a spokeswoman for Mayor Martin O'Malley.
She said the city also has hired a contractor to examine the underground cable at Field No. 8, where Deanna Green was killed May 5, to determine whether city officials correctly assessed the cause of the accident.
Parks Director Connie A. Brown announced Wednesday that Green died because the metal tip of an unprotected fence post came into contact with the cable and the girl touched two metal fences at once, completing a deadly electrical circuit.
In written statement to The Sun yesterday, Brown called the parks survey "precautionary" and added that there is no reason to believe that any fence is electrified. Fences at ball fields were tested last weekend after the teenager's death, and none was found to be electrified.
Guillory said that if the contractor hired to survey parks for underground cables finds one near a metal fence -- whether at a basketball court or picnic area -- city officials will "determine what steps to take next." She said city officials could move cables or fences if there is a risk of electrocution.
In other developments, Brown clarified the history of construction at Field No. 8. He said the ball field where Green was killed was constructed in 1973 or 1974 and that the underground cable was laid at the same time.
A contractor replaced one of the fences in the mid-1980s, and it was erected close to where the old one had been, Brown said. It is unclear whether the contractor had viewed the original plans for the field, but Brown said yesterday that those plans did not specify the exact location of the cable.
He said the original fence was erected near the cable and that the new one was placed directly over it.
The new fence also had longer posts, one of which eventually came in contact with the cable.
Lynn Anderson
lynn.anderson@baltsun.com
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun
'Perfect storm scenario' led to electrocution
May 12, 2006
A series of factors led to the electrocution of a 14-year-old softball player in Druid Hill Park on Friday: The exposed tip of a metal fence post came in contact with an underground electrical cable, and the girl touched a second metal fence, completing a deadly circuit, a city official said yesterday.
"We've determined how this happened," city parks Director Connie A. Brown announced yesterday after four days of near silence from City Hall regarding the accidental death of Deanna Green of Randallstown.
In his first public statement about the incident, Mayor Martin O'Malley said that he had contacted the family to express his sympathy.
"This is such a deeply tragic and sad loss of life," he said. "Any of us who have kids, you know your heart really goes out to the parents."
Green's parents, Anthony and Nancy Green, declined to comment on the announcement regarding the cause of their daughter's death.
The teenager was playing softball with other members of her church Friday night when she touched two metal fences at Field No. 8. Witnesses said the eighth-grader was stretching between the two fences when she fell to the ground unconscious. She died later that night.
Brown called the incident a "perfect storm scenario," and said that other park visitors might have also touched the same electrified fence and walked away without injury.
He said Green was killed because she happened to touch both fences at the same time, action that allowed a large quantity of electrical current to flow through her body. Metal is an excellent conductor of electrical current.
He said the electrified fence was constructed at least 20 years ago in an effort to protect players from foul balls. The fence was erected by a contractor who failed to encase at least one of the poles anchoring it to the ground in concrete, Brown said.
Over the years, the tip of the exposed pole came in contact with the underground cable and the fence became electrified when insulation covering the cable wore away, Brown said.
"At that point, the pole became electrified," he said.
Brown said the name of the contractor who performed the work is not known. He said he had contacted a retired parks employee who handled contract work around the time that the fence was constructed, but the former employee could not remember who had done the work. Brown said the job was not performed by city employees.
Brown said a severed ground wire prevented a power outage at the ball field that might have alerted park officials to a potential problem with the underground cable. He said park maintenance crews would never dig up an underground cable unless there was some reason to do so, such as a light tower not working properly. There is no maintenance schedule for underground cables, he said.
City officials said the underground cable at Field No. 8 was installed sometime before the fence. They said it carries up to 277 volts of electricity, but on the night Green was killed it was carrying 232 volts.
Brown said Field No. 8 would remain closed to the public until further notice.
He said park officials are considering inspecting all metal fences at city parks to see if there are electrical cables or wires underneath them.
Lynn Anderson
lynn.anderson@baltsun.com
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun
