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What authorities are demanding after the fatal accident at Smith Mountain Lake

BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. – After an 18-year-old man died in a bizarre accident on Smith Mountain Lake on July 4, fire officials are recommending a device that can detect electricity in the water.

Firefighters believe Jesse Hamric of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was electrocuted by stray voltage in the lake early Thursday, July 4, WDBJ reported.

There is evidence of stray voltage at other docks on the lake, according to Ray Talley, assistant fire chief of Smith Mountain Lake Marine Fire and Rescue. He said the electrical currents could be spreading from grounding cables and entering the water via a boat lift.

“There was a lot of electricity in that water,” Talley said of the July 4 incident. “And fixing it was easy. We just lifted the (boat) lift completely out of the water. And when we did that, there was no electricity in the water because there was no metal touching the water.”

For this reason, Talley recommends that people purchase a device that can detect electricity in the water.

“If you see the green lights and we put this in the water and those green lights keep flashing, that means there’s no stray voltage in that water,” Talley explained. “So if we move it in the water and get close to a lift that’s actually in the water, a lift system that lifts boats and jet skis, this thing could start to detect stray voltage.”

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WTVR

Talley said if power is available, the problem must be fixed immediately.

The deputy fire chief said crews have been responding to electrical emergencies on the lake for “maybe three years.”

“I don’t think anyone has been electrocuted and killed to date,” Talley said. “This is the first time.”

Hamric will be remembered as a “courageous” leader, animal whisperer and snowboarding champion who, according to his obituary, possessed an “extraordinary fearlessness and joy of life.”

“He loved his brother and sister, his family, his friends and teammates dearly,” his obituary reads. “There was no one in the world who was prouder of his big brother on the football field, or who yelled louder for his sister in the halfpipe, or who so tirelessly encouraged his friends to do backflips in the trees, or who so lovingly coaxed his huge dog across a stone bridge. Everything about Jesse was great – his smile, his hugs, his energy, his courage and, above all, his insatiable need for love.”

More than $104,000 has been raised for the Jesse Cyrus Hamric Fund for Courage and Love. Click here to learn more or make a donation.

This is a developing story, so anyone with more information Email [email protected] to submit a tip.

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