Sounds like a very avoidable accident. Isn’t one of the first things you learn in fire school “don’t put the ladder up next to a power line?”
They didn’t touch the wire, but with all the water perhaps electricity jumped a little further than they expected . Still they should be experts with that.
ONE is in danger - seriously injured. The other 3 are not in danger.
According to the article it was indeed an arc from the power lines without direct contact. The OP is right though, they did not get the concept that it was an ice bucket challenge, not a lukewarm hose challenge.
Well, it was an attempt to do a mass event for a whole marching band. Hard to get that large of an ice bucket up in the air.
Still, someone didn’t plan it very well and failed on some safety procedures for keeping clear of power lines.
Derp.