A woman and her boyfriend’s dog were fatally electrocuted on a morning walk in Mendota, California this week. The deceased did not see downed power lines on the ground that were still electrified.

Madeline Kelly, 34, was walking her boyfriend’s dog at around 5 a.m. Wednesday when the incident occurred.

A power pole and live electrical wires were laying on the ground, unbeknownst to Kelly. A fire had weakened the pole on Monday, and the pole had come down in the time between that fire and Kelly’s walk. The wires, meanwhile, were still electrified, according to a Facebook post from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.

Without the aid of sunlight, Kelly was unable to see the hazard and walked straight into it, killing both herself and the dog. Kelly’s boyfriend would later discover the pair’s bodies.

The company that owns the downed pole, Pacific Gas & Electric, say that they were not informed about the Monday vegetation fire since it did not affect the power lines at that time.

“We are working with first responders to investigate the circumstances of the tragic accident in Mendota this week. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been impacted,” a spokesperson for PG&E told KFSN-TV in a statement.

Kelly’s surviving family are now left bereft in the wake of the tragedy.

“She was intelligent and kind and artistic and loving. And she liked to laugh. It was a wrongful death, in my opinion. It was a wrong way to die. She had a lot of life left to go,” Kelly’s mother Melissa Rust told KFSN-TV.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.