Man injured after climbing power pole

WASILLA -- Power throughout much of Mat-Su was interrupted for about two hours late Tuesday night after a Wasilla man climbed an electrical tower and received a shock which caused severe burns over half of his body.

At about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers received a call from a man who reported he had climbed an electrical tower in the Point MacKenzie Road area.

Apparently Michael J. Naczi, 41, of Wasilla, reportedly despondent over political fantasies, had threatened to climb a tower and "hold on for as long" as he could, according to trooper reports.

Naczi reportedly went to a large metal tower at Mile 2.9 MacKenzie Road and climbed to about 30 feet. At that point, power from the line arced to him, knocking him off the tower. Naczi then walked about a mile to a fire station where he used the emergency call box to call 911.

Naczi was taken to Valley Hospital with second- and third-degree burns over approximately 50 percent of his body. At around 6:30 Wednesday morning he was flown to Harbor View Medical Center burn unit in Seattle, where his condition had been upgraded from critical to serious Thursday morning.

Although neither Palmer nor Wasilla Police Departments report calling in additional patrols as a result of the power outages, both forces cruised the darkened streets with spotlights. According to Palmer Police Chief Russell Boatwright, some Palmer swing shift officers remained past the end of their shift in order to maintain a heightened presence.

According to Chugach Electric Association sources, one of three transmission lines serving the Matanuska-Susitna Valley faulted late Tuesday night. The fault was on Chugach's 230-kilovolt transmission line that runs between the Point MacKenzie and Teeland substations. Although some Matanuska Electric Association customers experienced no outage, power was cut off to MEA customers north of the Knik River. Chugach began the restoration process and re-energized the line from Point MacKenzie at 11:47, and around midnight re-energized the Teeland Substation.

No charges against Naczi are pending at this time.