Photo of the exposed edge of a metallic splice crimp, from the city of Tucson report.

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A city investigation blames Fluoresco Lighting and Signs for the July 25 electrocution of 8-year-old Deshun Chance Glover at Hi Corbett Field.

It also cites problems with Tucson Electric Power's circuit breaker at the field.

The city report says Fluoresco failed to properly insulate a splice when it made repairs to conduit in a steel junction box in September 2007. That failure resulted in a "ground fault," with which Deshun came into contact as he stood in a puddle near the box.

Deshun was electrocuted when a storm hit during an American Legion baseball game he was watching at one of the satellite fields just outside Hi Corbett's main stadium. The report says lightning that evening "did not have any causal effect on this accident."

Representatives from Fluoresco did not return calls for comment. Neither did the family's lawyer. The boy's great-grandmother was reached by telephone but said she preferred questions be directed to her daughter-in-law, who did not return the Star's call.

"It's apparent from the report there were fractures in the electrical system that caused the death" of Deshun, said Assistant City Manager Richard Miranda.

"Maybe this is a situation that could have been avoided," he said.

"The failure of the Fluoresco workmen to eliminate that hazard was clearly below the minimum standard of care for a professional tradesman, especially in a high-traffic public area such as this," the report reads.

Miranda said the city never checked the electrical work done by Fluoresco because the city "doesn't have the expertise in-house. ... I'm told we don't inspect their work."

The report said the ground fault was exacerbated by a problem with a Tucson Electric Power Co. transformer that prevented a circuit breaker from tripping and shutting off the current.

Miranda said TEP disputed some issues with the report, and the city's lawyers talked with the utility in the hopes of resolving those conflicts.

Miranda said the issues with the TEP transformer were "beyond my knowledge" and said that's why an expert was hired to figure it out. The report was so technical because it was an engineering report from a forensic expert, Miranda said, not because of the threat of a lawsuit.

The report by George J. Hogge of Engineering Forensics Experts LLC in Mesa explains that the repair work on a conductor in a "pullbox," or electrical access box in the ground next to the field, was not insulated correctly nor replaced safely after the work.

This caused the lid on the box to come in contact with the wiring. That contact "would energize the entire lid to 277 volts," the report says.

Hogge said he was asked to refer calls to the city.

The puddle of water Deshun was standing in during the storm would have made a good conductor of electricity, said Richard Ziolkowski, electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Arizona.

In addition, the TEP circuit breaker was not functioning properly, according to the report. It normally should have tripped, or cut off the electricity, after three to seven minutes of receiving 240 or more amps, the report says.

"Different levels of circuit breakers allow different amounts of current to flow through them. If more current flows through than it's allowed to have, it should pop and stop the current from flowing," Ziolkowski said.

Steve Lynn, TEP vice president of communication, called the city's release of the report "irresponsible" because, he said, "It's pretty clear there were some factual errors in the report."

He said TEP got a copy of the report late last week and raised questions with the city last Friday, hoping to delay the publication of the report until TEP's concerns were resolved. All the city did was add a line saying TEP did not agree with the report's conclusions, Lynn said.

"The city chose not to allow any discussion," Lynn said. "It was an irresponsible act by the city."

He said primary errors in the report involve the conclusion that problems in the transformer exacerbated the situation that led to Deshun's death. The city is responsible for that equipment, not TEP, as the report states, Lynn said.

"It's a piece of equipment we neither own nor operate nor maintain," Lynn said. "That piece of equipment is provided by the customer."

When the city connects to a TEP transformer, it provides the wires, including the "neutrals" — the two wires in the transformer that the report said were "completely severed" and "nearly severed."

Lynn said the wires were not severed when TEP examined them the night of the electrocution.

"When we opened the box on the evening of the event both neutrals were connected," Lynn said. "We actually decoupled one of them. We did it after the box was de-energized."

Lynn said the wires were damaged and degraded, but they were not disconnected.

"They were degraded, no doubt about it," Lynn said, adding, "That happens over time."

Lynn said no party has filed a claim against TEP over the incident and that he doesn't expect anyone will.

The report says as few as 10 milliamps of electricity will cause uncontrolled muscle contractions, or the inability to let go of something conducting electricity.

"As little as 100 milliamps will cause ventricular fibrillation and death," the report says.

"If the 200-amp circuit breaker had operated, then the only issue would have been a tripping circuit breaker and the inconvenience of lights being out during the games," the report states.

Although the family has hired an attorney and their own electrical expert, Miranda said no claims have been filed against the city involving the electrocution. He said he didn't know if they would file a claim in the future.

"This is a very unique situation," Miranda said. "I don't know what to expect."