MADISON, Wis. -- In August of 2007 three Madison residents were tragically electrocuted by a downed power line at a flooded bus stop. But two years later the families of the victims said it wasn't just a bad accident. They are alleging negligence by Madison Gas and Electric in two lawsuits filed recently. The Madison community was rocked on Aug. 22, 2007, as were rescue personnel, bus riders and others who witnessed the horrifying ordeal. But now the families of the two adults and child who were killed by electrocution allege they weren't just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Eileen Stephens, of Posen, Ill., mother of victim Demetrius Dobbs, last week filed a wrongful death lawsuit against MG&E, alleging it "was negligent in performing its duty to properly design, install, operate and maintain its overhead electric distribution line." The lawsuit goes on to say: "This failure caused the primary conductor to fall and be re-energized or remain energized after detaching from the pole." Two years ago, lightening flashed while heavy rains flooded streets, and around 4 p.m. one lightening bolt hit the north side, striking an MG&E power line and sending it down into a flooded area by a bus stop along Sherman Avenue. The electrical distribution line was live, carrying more than 4,000 volts, when Lakisha Dancy, 28, tried to board the bus while clutching her 2-year-old girl and got electrocuted. Inside the bus, Dancy's neighbor and friend, Demetrius Dobbs, 22, saw them fall and rushed to help -- only to get electrocuted as well. Dobbs' fiancé' was on the bus and witnessed the deaths. "The coroner said there was so much electricity in the water that as soon as their feet hit the water they were dead before they hit the ground," Jamie McGee, Dobb's fiancé, said at the time. The lawsuits filed by Dobbs' mother and Dancy's estate on behalf of her three surviving children, including one then-7-year-old injured in the incident, allege MG&E failed to follow state law and the National Electrical Safety Code and didn't put up warning signs on the power poles as required. MG&E said its lawyers are reviewing the suits and offered no comment. However, a state Public Service Commission investigation of the downed power line last year seemed to clear MG&E. It found no big problems saying, "The circuit protection devices (MG&E) installed on this circuit are consistent with typical industry practice," in its report read in September 2008.
Both lawsuits seek damages for expenses like burials and for pain and suffering.
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