Teamcasa writes:

I must have been a huge generator. The load created by backfeeding a
system would be enormous.

No, not necessarily. A blown fuse further down the line, or on the
transformer, would result in many kilovolts on the feeder line. The
transformer would be running "backwards", stepping up the generator's 240
VAC to 13 kV or 26 kV (whatever they use in that area). The upstream loads
would be disconnected due to the blown fuse.

The story is a little disingenuous, since proper procedure does not expose
the lineman in such situations. The problem was more than just the
backfeed.