Corroded ground wire caused fatal electrocution in pool
RALEIGH, N.C. A corroded ground wire from 1979 forced electricity into the pool where a teenage lifeguard was shocked and killed in a North Raleigh neighborhood pool, according to an inspection report released by Wake County Monday, reported CBS affiliate WNCN.
“The environment around a pool has lots of corrosive chemicals and over a period of time it’s easy to see how some electrical connections could degrade from corrosion,” said Dr. Dan Stancil, head of the N.C. State department of electrical and computer engineering.
Dr. Stancil said he says it would take several years for a wire to corrode as much as the ground wire found at Heritage Point community pool.
On Sept. 6, an examination by the Wake County Inspection Office found the corroded wire, which was an original part of the pool when built in 1979.
“There is not a requirement in the code that the ground connection be regularly checked after its installed in a pool,” Dr. Stancil said.
The pool inspections that are required each year in North Carolina do not include electrical work. The last inspection of the Heritage Point pool was July 26.
“The idea is if the ground were still intact, that when that short occurred, it would cause a breaker to trip,” Dr. Stancil said.
With the ground wire corroded, there was no chance for a breaker to trip, sending electricity along another path and into the pool, where Rachel Rosoff, 17, was found dead earlier this month.