Farm owner: Lightning strike may have set off tragic chain of events

TAMPICO – The owner of the land where two Sterling girls were electrocuted Monday has an idea about the cause.

Meanwhile, authorities have yet to reveal any information about how exactly Hannah Kendall and Jade Garza, both 14, were killed. They were shocked when they came into contact with the pivot irrigation system while detasseling, officials say.

Virginia Matthews of Walnut, who owns the farm near Tampico, said Wednesday that she believes the problem started when lightning struck an electric meter associated with the irrigation system on Saturday. It was blown to pieces, she said.

Kevin Larkey, who is leasing the farm, turned off the electricity to the system and called an electrician, Matthews said.

The electrician, Brian Wetzell, who is also Tampico’s fire chief, confirmed that he was scheduled to look at the problem on Monday. He did end up going to the farm that morning, but that was in his role as a rescue worker responding to the electrocutions.

Matthews, who is in her 70s, said she wasn’t sure how the girls could have been electrocuted if Larkey had turned off the power. But she speculated the lightning may have damaged the meter in such a way as to cause the tragedy.

She and her husband, Donald “Goody” Matthews, in his 80s, were in Chicago visiting their children when Larkey called to tell them about the electrocutions.

“I have grandchildren that age. It’s awful. I feel terrible. You just want to sit down and cry,” she said.

The 34-year-old irrigation system is run by hydraulic oil, though electricity powers the pump, Matthews said.

ComEd, which owned the meter, has been looking into what happened.

Some have speculated that a downed power line could have electrified the irrigation system, but Matthews said there were no loose lines.

Monsanto Company, which employed the victims, said it trains its employee to walk around pivot irrigation systems. But that’s not because of the danger of electrical shock.

The company is concerned about the potential of slips, trips and falls when the farm workers climb over them, Monsanto spokesman Tom Helscher said. Also, the ruts created by the equipment are fall hazards, he said.

ComEd still isn’t commenting about its investigation. Spokesman Bennie Currie said Wednesday that he didn’t have any of the details.

“We’re working with authorities. We’re trying to determine if ComEd equipment was involved,” he said.

Asked why Larkey didn’t call ComEd, Matthews said he didn’t have the special phone number that fire departments and other agencies have. She said Larkey figured it would be easier to get in touch with an electrician.

Larkey didn’t return a message for comment.

Monsanto resumed area detasseling operations Wednesday after suspending them Monday and Tuesday.

Bill Field, an agricultural professor at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., said companies such as Monsanto stress safety.

“The detasselers are closely supervised. The company wants to make sure all tassels are gone. They recognize the liability [for accidents],” he said.

He said he would have no problem recommending detasseling jobs for youths.

“I would much rather have my kids detasseling corn than sitting home watching TV,” he said.

The accident happened around 9 a.m. in a cornfield on Luther Road south of Starr Road. At the time, 72 detasselers were assigned to the farm that day.