Questions swirl around death of KCK lineman amid mourning: ‘God bless Brother Josh’
The power along North 74th Street in Kansas City, Kansas, was already out on Sunday evening, near 5 p.m., as Joe Nunez drove home from his roofing job.
As he approached his home, he spotted a lineman from the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities on the road at a bucket truck next to a utility pole.
“I mean, I just seen him working right here,” Nunez, 19, said Tuesday, not far from the pole opposite 31 North 74th Street, a quiet, almost rural street about 10 miles west of downtown. Thick with trees, it’s an area of modest older homes on large plots south of Interstate 70.
“Then, probably like an hour later,” Nunez said, he’d stepped outside to retrieve the mail. “I came back outside, and I just seen one fire truck, and then one ambulance and probably three cop cars.” He saw a gathering of utility workers. “There were a lot of them here, too.”
He also saw a man, who he believed to be either injured or lifeless, inside the bucket.
“I didn’t know what happened,” Nunez said.
On Monday, Kansas City Kansas Mayor Christal Watson, in a social media post expressing heartfelt condolences, identified the utility worker as Joshua McKee, “whose passing has left our community grieving.”
“Joshua was a valued member of the Board of Public Utilities family,” she wrote, “and his loss is felt not only by those who worked alongside him each day, but by all of us who recognize the dedication and commitment of the men and women who serve our community. ... I want Mr. McKee’s loved ones to know that you are in our thought and prayers during this incredibly difficult time.”
City and utility board officials say that McKee’s family has requested privacy.
Questions about lineman’s death
Questions regarding the details of McKee’s death remain, pending what the utility has said will be an investigation and third-party review, “consistent with our commitment to safety.”
Accounts by neighbors already differ, with some saying that McKee may have been working alone, while others say he was part of a crew.
Neighbor Dennis Jones was also home when he heard the sirens Sunday evening. At first, he thought a neighbor might have needed an ambulance.
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“I happened to open the fridge and saw that the electricity was out, and saw the pole truck up there and the emergency vehicles, and I realized something had happened,” said Jones, who, for 25 years, worked for the Union Wire Rope Corp., part of Armco Steel.
The manufacturing job is also inherently dangerous. For a time, Jones worked as a safety observer.
“It’s a tragedy,” he said of McKee’s death. “I mean these guys take all the precautions they can, and it’s still an extremely dangerous job. Sometimes you overlook something and things happen.”
Amber Oetting, the utility board’s director of communications and marketing, said that because the incident remains under investigation, “BPU is not in a position to confirm details related to the time, location, or circumstances of the incident. We are firm that those facts should come through the investigative process once they have been fully established.”
Oetting said that she understands that conflicting information is circulating within the community.
“That is precisely why BPU is committed to the investigative process to determine the facts before commenting on specific details or responding to information that may be speculative, incomplete, or inaccurate,” Oetting wrote. “It would be inappropriate for BPU to validate or refute reports that have not been established through that process.”
The utility board, in a previous statement, also said the members of the organization are grieving and offered condolences for McKee’s death.
“Our thoughts remain with his family, friends and coworkers, and everyone affected by this tragic lose,” she said.
‘One of the most dangerous professions there is’
McKee, although most recently working in the Kansas City area, was member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 71 out of Ohio.
He worked alongside members of IBEW Local 53 based in Kansas City. As unions sent messages of compassion, they also highlighted the inherent danger of work with the electrical power lines.
“This loss is being felt by everyone who knew and worked with him,” Allen Dixon, Local 53 business representative, wrote of McKee. “Linework is one of the most dangerous professions there is.
“Every day, linemen climb poles, work around high-voltage electricity, and face risks that most people never have to think about, all to keep the lights on and our communities running. (Sunday’s) tragedy is a painful reminder of the sacrifices these men and women make in service to others.”
Bo Moreno, a union leader with IBEW Local 124, also wrote that its members were “heartbroken at the loss of our fellow IBEW Brother Josh McKee.”
“The work we do is a necessity and underlines the dangerous conditions we work in on a daily basis,” Moreno said. “An injury to one is an injury to all in the construction industry. We offer our deepest condolences to his family in this painful time. God bless Brother Josh and may he watch over and protect all our fellow tradesmen/tradeswomen.”
This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 5:20 PM.
