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RALSTON -- A 43-year-old man was electrocuted sometime overnight Monday in his garage while practicing a self-taught technique he learned online to put designs on pieces of wood using electrical current, according to Lycoming County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr.
Joseph Sechrist, of 9060 Route 14, was found dead on the ground about 6 a.m. by a relative, Kiessling said he was told, adding the two men were planning to go fishing.
Ralston Fire Chief John Orr said nothing could be done for Sechrist when emergency responders arrived at the property. Kiessling said Sechrist had been dead for several hours.
Kiessling discourages anyone from practicing this technique, known as fractal wood burning, in which an individual uses high voltage electricity to burn a pattern or figure on a section of wood.
Besides Kiessling and firefighters from Ralston and Trout Run, state police also responded to the home to investigate the accidental death. Investigators suspect there was some kind of electrical short in the device Sechrist was using to burn the images in the wood. He was alone at the time, Kiessling said