IBEW Local 104 (Boston) and 42 (Hartford CT) Members Die While Aiding Floridians Restore Power

Members Die in Hurricane Charley Aid

Two IBEW members who had spent days repairing downed electrical lines in the wake of Hurricane Charley died as they were making their way home on Tuesday, August 24.

Local 42 member Thomas A. Mattison, 44, of Manchester, Connecticut, and Local 104 member John E. Vahey, 47, of Fremont, New Hampshire, died after a highway crash when the truck they were traveling in hit a parked tractor-trailer on Interstate 4 in central Florida.

"The IBEW family will remember these men as heroes who died in the service of others," said IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill. "All of the IBEW members, staff and officers grieve for our lost brothers and send our condolences to their families and friends."

The two were employed by outside electrical contractor PAR Electric and driving a standard utility truck with a rear cherry picker several miles north of Orlando when the accident occurred. News stories cite police, who said the truck driven by Vahey veered off the highway, crashed into the flatbed tractor- trailer, rolled over and burst into flames.

Vahey’s wife, Cristal Vahey, told the Orlando Sentinel that her husband went to Florida out of a sense of duty. "When they turned on the power down there he was proud of himself," she said. "He always wanted to help out."

Vahey, a journeyman lineman who specialized in traffic control, joined the IBEW in 1995. He was a committed family man whose twin teenage sons were highly-regarded football players, said Local 104 President Steve O’Donnell. An active union member, Vahey was a skilled craftsman with a good sense of humor. "You always laughed around him," O’Donnell said. "He was a great guy."

A fund has been established to assist Vahey’s family. Contributions can be sent to:

IBEW Local 104 Vahey Family Fund
C/o Citizens Bank
565 Main Street
Walpole, Massachusetts 02081

Mattison, a 14-year member of the IBEW who had been living in the Midwest, had recently returned to his home in Connecticut. Donations to his family can be made to:

Thomas Mattison Memorial Fund
C/o Savings Bank of Manchester
923 Main Street
Manchester, Connecticut 06040