WALDO, Fla. – A 56-year-old Clay Electric Cooperative employee died Tuesday evening while working in a bucket truck on Northeast 54 Street in Alachua County.
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as William Ziegenfelder, a Gainesville resident. Clay Electric said he was survived by his wife, Christy, and nine children.
Recommended Videos
Alachua Fire-Rescue officials said the worker died of apparent electrocution about 6 p.m. while repairing lines in a rural area about 5 miles northwest of Waldo.
“We are deeply saddened by this loss of one of our own,” Clay Electric CEO Ricky Davis said in a statement. “My thoughts and prayers are with Ziggy’s family and his co-workers as we work together to process this tragedy.”
WCJB-TV in Gainesville reported it happened after a severe thunderstorm passed through the area, but it wasn’t immediately clear if that contributed to the man’s death.
Both the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and Clay Electric are working to determine exactly how he was killed.
The co-op said Ziegenfelder was hired as a lineworker at Clay Electric in 2018 after a 20-year career at Gainesville Regional Utilities. His employer is working on ways to help the family.
Clay Electric serves 15 counties in North Central Florida, including 24,000 customers in Alachua County.