Two employees of Pike Electric, a Greeneville Light & Power System contractor, suffered electric burns to their faces and necks about 11:30 a.m. Monday when electrical equipment in the 1400 block of the Erwin Highway "arced" while they were working on it.

GL&PS Operations Manager Chuck Bowlin said Elgin Gentry, Jr., and Thomas Lister were working in a bucket truck along the Erwin Highway when they were "flashed" by an electrical arc.

The cause of the arc remains under investigation, Bowlin said during a telephone interview.

Both men suffered burns and were flown by medical helicopters to the Johnson City Medical Center.

Two different helicopter landed on Pleasant View Drive in Tusculum a short distance from the accident scene to pick up the injured workers, emergency personnel said.

Gentry's injuries were described as second-degree burns with what appeared to be some "minor third-degree" burns.

Lister appeared to have suffered first- and second-degree burns.

Both were being treated in the JCMC emergency room about 1:30 p.m. Monday, according to a nursing supervisor.

The supervisor said this morning Gentry had been transferred overnight to the burn unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

A Vanderbilt Medical Center spokesman, said this morning that Gentry was listed in critical, but stable, condition there.

Lister remained in fair condition this morning at the JCMC.