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Electric lineman killed on job

Bob Crump, general manager of Kootenai Electric Cooperative, addresses the media Tuesday after the on-the-job death of lineman Jake Booth. Booth, a second-year apprentice, was 23 and leaves a wife and baby son. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
By Taryn Hecker tarynh@spokesman.com
Bob Crump, general manager of Kootenai Electric Cooperative, addresses the media Tuesday after the on-the-job death of lineman Jake Booth. Booth, a second-year apprentice, was 23 and leaves a wife and baby son. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)

A 23-year-old lineman with Kootenai Electric Cooperative was electrocuted Tuesday morning while working south of Coeur d’Alene. Jake Booth, of Rathdrum, was part of a four-man team setting a power pole near Cougar Gulch and Lynx Trail roads when the pole came in contact with a live wire about 10:30 a.m., according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department. An electric charge went through the pole and struck Booth, killing him. A 2002 graduate of Davenport High School in Washington, Booth was married with an infant son. He had worked for the utility since May 2005 and is the first Kootenai Electric employee killed on the job. “We are deeply saddened by this tragedy,” said the utility’s general manger, Robert Crump. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and our employees during this difficult time.” Crump said Booth was a second-year apprentice, which qualified him to work on live power lines. “It’s dangerous work,” Crump said. “We all know that. He knew that. It’s the nature of the business.” The project was put on hold Tuesday as the Sheriff’s Department and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration investigated. Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger said Booth’s death was ruled accidental. Grief counselors were called in for employees at the cooperative, Crump said. Kootenai Electric has 75 employees and serves more than 21,000 customers in Kootenai, Benewah, Bonner and Spokane counties. “Jake was a conscientious employee,” said Gary Nieborsky, engineering and operations manager. “In a small organization, it affects everybody.” Human Resources Manager Keri Hutchins said Booth’s aunt described him as “very adventurous.” “The life he lived was very full,” Hutchins said. In a February 2005 Spokesman-Review article about Avista Utilities’ Jack Stewart Lineman School, Booth described himself as an “adrenaline junkie” who had wanted to be a lineman since he was a boy. “The first day you’re out climbing,” Booth was quoted as saying. “They put you right out there and let you start doing it.”