MARION COUNTY — A 51-year-old lineman with Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative was critically injured Thursday morning while working in the extreme southeast corner of Marion County, near the Wayne County line when he came in contact with a high voltage power line.

Gerry E. Kinney, of rural Fairfield, was in the bucket of a power line service truck making repairs to a line when around 11:08 a.m. Thursday he came into contact with a 7,200 volt primary transmission line.

Several other linemen were with Kinney when the accident happened and helped bring him down so an ambulance crew and Orchardville Fire Department first responders could give assistance.The location of the accident was south of Helm.

Kinney was airlifted from the scene and transported to the burns unit of Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. His condition has been listed as “critical, but stable”.