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In the wake of the recent power outages in the DC area, it’s easy to take for granted the brave men and women who work around the clock to restore our power.

Even though they work as fast as they can, we often find ourselves still complaining that it’s not fast enough – rarely taking into account that what they do is extremely dangerous.

If you’re one of the ones that has complained about your power being off for a few hours, read this.

Four weeks ago, a Dominion Power worker trying to restore electricity to our street, fell from a pole in a ball of fire.

It was nearly midnight on one of those insufferably hot days and Eric Parker, who had been working atop the pole since 4 p.m., stayed after his shift ended in a special effort to get the power back on and the air-conditioners running again.

Some neighbors were just heading to bed. Others were still awake – reading, watching TV, squirming uncomfortably in their hot houses. Many, like me, fell asleep hours before.

A woman, who just that day moved with her family into a house two doors down from where Eric worked, heard him chattering and wondered when he’d finish.

Then, KAPOW! The sound of the transformer blowing startled neighbors up and down two streets. They looked out their windows, ran out their doors and saw flames hurtling over the trees, crazy high into the night sky.

Today, neighbors gathered in the back yard where the accident happened to raise money for Eric who, miraculously, survived. They recounted the night with the immediacy and intensity of trauma victims, nearly all of them haunted by the same detail: the screams.

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