JUPITER, Fla. — Water fountains and pools are a staple in parts of Florida from Palm County to the Treasure Coast. Even though they're beautiful they come with hidden dangers.
In light of the tragedy at Harbourside Place, electrician Howard Borna, who is the vice president at Bay Court Worldwidein Port St. Lucie, said electricity and water are a dangerous mix. "It’s not like plumbing. If you have a leak you can see the leak you can see the water. With electric you can’t see it and you don’t know it until it’s too late,” Borna said.
He suggests avoiding anything that looks suspicious, like visible wires in water.
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Witness details trying to find power shutoff in Harbourside Place electrocution
If you see someone getting shocked don't touch them. Instead, rush to shut off the power source.
"What you want to do is look for the immediate power source for whatever kind of body of water it is, be it a fountain, a pool, a hot tub, a Jacuzzi," he said. Many of these things require that the power source is nearby and within the line of sight—not all, but many of them."
Even after shutting off the power, don't try pulling the person out. You are still at risk of getting hurt yourself.
If you're a pool owner you should know where your power source is.
“Homeowners should also know how to turn off their pool equipment. I mean they really should. Not everybody knows how to do that, not everybody knows where it’s located,” Borna said.
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As for the incident at Harbourside Place, he hoped it was a wake-up call for electricians. Borna said, “what we do for a living if we’re not careful it could hurt someone and let’s just make sure that we’re crossing all our T's and dotting all our I's.”
