Lineman Killed In Tragic Accident Remembered

PRENTISS COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – A lineman with the Prentiss County Electric Power Association is killed as he tries to restore power to homes after Tuesday night’s storms.

It was around midnight when Jamie Guin and a co worker were dispatched to a downed power line, off of Highway 30 West.  Guin’s bucket truck couldn’t access the area because of the steep and muddy terrain, so he put on his safety belt and climbed to the top.   Moments later, the other lineman, who was working on the ground, was startled by a loud sound.

“He turned and looked to the pole where Jamie was and he saw Jamie slumped without any movement to his body, away from the conductor, so he knew Jamie was in bad trouble,” said Ronny Rowland, who is general manager for the Prentiss County Electric Power Association.  He broke the news of Guin’s tragic death to office workers .  Rowland says the 36 year old had worked at the electric cooperative for 13 years and rose through the ranks.

“Jamie was a model employee, when you gave him a direction, he gladly did it with a smile on his face,” Rowland said.

OSHA has been notified and will be on scene to conduct its investigation, in the meantime, the community, family and friends of Jamie Guin are in mourning over the death of a husband, who was looking forward to being a first time Dad.

“Certainly she’s got some really hard days ahead, she was only about a month away from having their first children, which were twins,” Rowland said.

Rowland says Guin’s widow, friends and family will need a lot of prayer in the coming days, weeks and months.

Although there is no official cause for the accident yet, Rowland says it appears Guin thought the power line he was working on was de-energized.