Two people were hospitalized Tuesday after they were shocked by copper that was apparently still energized while removing it from a building near Tahoe Avenue and Avery Street, just west of Mesa Gateway Airport. The Mesa Fire and Medical Department said the structure was being used for firefighter training at the time, though no fire personnel were hurt in the incident.
According to the department, the two people were removing copper from the building when they came into contact with wiring that apparently remained energized, as reported by azfamily.com. Officials said the building was an acquired structure made available for firefighter training, according to a department email obtained by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Officials have described the incident as an accident, and it remains under investigation.
Conflicting Accounts of the Injuries
Early reporting on the incident offered differing details about how badly the two people were hurt. The fire department initially said both people were being taken to a hospital with electrical injuries, and azfamily.com's first account quoted fire officials saying one person was in critical condition. Officials later told the Republic and azcentral.com that the conditions of the two people were unknown, leaving their current status unresolved as of the latest reporting.
Officials have not identified the property's owner, and the investigation into exactly what happened — and why the copper remained energized — is still ongoing. No other details about the people who were shocked have been released.
A Recurring Target for Copper Theft in the Valley
Copper has become a frequent target for theft across the Phoenix area, and Mesa police have previously traced individual cases to much larger criminal operations. In a case detailed on the department's crime blog, investigators responded to an in-progress commercial burglary near Loop 202 in late 2024 after suspects were caught stealing copper wire from electrical junction boxes, according to the Mesa Police Department Crime Blog.
That investigation eventually uncovered a broader pattern of organized copper theft activity happening across multiple jurisdictions in the Valley, the blog post states. One primary suspect in that case was ultimately convicted in Maricopa County Superior Court and sentenced to 2.5 years in the Arizona Department of Corrections, with the court ordering more than $237,000 in restitution — including $190,000 owed to the Arizona Department of Transportation.
It is not clear whether Tuesday's incident near Mesa Gateway Airport is connected to any broader theft activity, and authorities have not released further information about who the two injured people were or whether they were authorized to be removing copper from the building. Mesa Fire and Medical officials say the matter remains under investigation.
