Ice bucket challenge goes awry; firefighters get electric shocks

Associated Press

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky.

Four firefighters were injured — two seriously — when a firetruck’s ladder got too close to a power line after they helped college students take part in an ice bucket challenge, police said Thursday.

The firefighters had just finished dousing cold water on the Campbellsville University marching band and were lowering the ladder when they were shocked by electricity. Two firefighters were in the bucket and two were on the main part of the truck.

The two in the bucket were at a hospital burn unit. One was in critical condition, and the other was stable, Campbellsville Police Chief Tim Hazlette said. The other firefighters were treated and released.

No students were hurt.

“It’s tragic. I feel for all the band members who were still there when it happened, that they had to see that,” said nursing student Julie Smith, who said she was nearby when it happened and spoke to a couple of students who witnessed it.

About 100 students and people from the small town in central Kentucky gathered on a lawn at the center of campus to pray for the firefighters Thursday evening.