Tag Archives: fire

Electrician Dies in Huntington Beach Fire

Brandon Orozco died Monday in a horrific accident in an underground vault in Huntington Harbour.

Orozco was part of a five member crew conducting scheduled maintenance. A fire broke out at around 12:15 in the underground electrical vault. The underground electrical vault is located in the 16200 block of Tisbury Circle near Mistral Drive. It is located on Humboldt Island.

The fire broke out when electricity suddenly began flowing through the fault. Orozco was the only member of the crew in the fault at the time. There were no other injuries reported.

Orozco’s body was removed from the vault at around 5:15 p.m. on Monday. When firefighters arrive to the scene, there was heavy smoke coming from the vault. It took the Huntington Beach and Anaheim fire departments five hours to enter the vault and retrieve Orozco’s body. After the fire was put out, the rescue workers had to wait for Edison to cut off power before entering the vault. Rescue workers had to test the vault air samples to make sure there were no more explosives in the area. The body was then transported to the Orange County coroner’s office.

The crew was from CAM Contractors Inc., a Southern California Edison subcontractor. The crew was contracted to work in the vault during a scheduled five-hour power outage. This is when the fire started. 350 customers were without power until 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Branzon Orozco was a union lineman for about three years. He worked for various electrical contractors. Orzoco had only been with CAM Contractors Inc., for about two months. His death was the first for CAM Contractors Inc.

Orozco is survived by his family. The Orozcos will have a viewing from 5 to 6 p.m. and a rosemary prayer service from 6 to 7 p.m. on Sunday at Rose Hills Memorial park in Whittier. On Monday morning, there will be a mass held at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Pasadena. The burial will be at Rose Hills on Tuesday. Residents affected by the power outage are collecting donations to help the Orozco family pay for funeral costs. If you are interested in donating, contact Michelle Abawi at (951)551-3441.

The cause of accident is still being investigated. Huntington Beach Fire Department investigators, Cal-OSHA, Edison, and CAM Contractors Inc. are working together to discover the cause of the fire.

If you have ever lost a loved one due to another individual’s negligence, contact a Huntington Beach wrongful death lawyer.