City worker killed by high-pressure hose

LONGVIEW — New details have emerged in the workplace incident where a City of Longview’s Water Distribution and Wastewater Collection employee died from blunt force trauma caused by a water hose.
According to documents obtained from the Longview Police Department and our news partner KETK, emergency crews were dispatched to the 100 block of Gilmer Road on March 16 at around 1:34 p.m. after receiving a call regarding a city worker getting hit by a high-pressure water hose.

Upon arrival, 23-year-old Buddy Powell was observed to be lying on the ground with “blood coming out of his mouth with a puddle around his head,” a police officer reported. According to crew members, they were working to flush dirt and mud out of a water valve in the street to be able to repair a water leak. The crew chief was operating the controls to the water pressure while Powell was standing over the hole with his foot on a high-pressure hose that was flushing it out.

A crew member informed the police that he was turned away when the hose “shot out of the hole” and struck Powell. The crew chief, who mentioned that he had repeatedly instructed Powell to “make sure he keeps his foot on the hose,” was facing the control panel when the hose came out and hit his leg and foot.

The crew chief said he quickly turned off the machine and turned to see Powell lying on the ground bleeding. According to the crew chief, the pressure of the water could have been from 1,000 to 1,500 psi.

Powell was transported to the Good Shepherd Medical Center, where Justice of the Peace B. H. Jameson pronounced him dead. An autopsy report obtained said Powell died due to blunt force trauma from the water hose.