The vice president and chaplain of a rescue squad in Concord, Va., died after being shocked and suffering a fall at an industrial business late last month.
Louis I. Pettigrew Jr. was working on an overhead light in the shop area of Lynchburg Powder Coating, standing about 16 to 18 feet in the air on a pallet attached to a forklift, according to a report from The News & Advance. Pettigrew was shocked by the light, causing him to fall from the pallet to the shop floor.
A spokesman for the Sheriff's Office said that while both the fall and the shock were significant, the cause of death still was unknown.
The 69-year-old was doing contract work. Pettigrew had started working as an independent contractor after he retired from the Virginia Department of Transportation. Pettigrew had served as the Concord Rescue Squad's president in the past, and he most recently was awarded the position of vice president and chaplain.
Officials with the Virginia Division of Occupational Safety and Health are conducting an investigation into the incident.
