An 18-year-old man was seriously injured Sunday after falling about 100 feet through a water tower on the University of West Florida campus.

"He was working on the inside of the tower," said Sgt. Walter Davis of the University of West Florida Police Department. "Witnesses said they heard something give way. When they went inside, they found him on the bottom."

The man was part of a David Telecom crew putting up communication equipment on the UWF tower just off Campus Drive near the WUWF radio station, Davis said.

"He had a harness on," he said. "No one knows yet exactly what happened (that caused him to fall)."

The Ferry Pass Volunteer Fire Department was the first to respond to the scene about 2:15 p.m.

Firefighters entered through an internal climbing system within the tower.

"When we got there, he was breathing," Fire Chief Robbie Whitfield said. "We stabilized him. He was not conscious, and he had multiple injuries."

Whitfield said this kind of accident is rare.

"People fall from radio towers and billboards," he said. "But it has been a long time since I heard of (someone falling) from a water tower."

The man was taken by ambulance to West Florida Hospital.

"The last I heard, he was in surgery in the West Florida emergency room," Davis said about 5 p.m. Sunday.

Emergency services and UWF police also responded.

No other information was available Sunday evening.

Lt. David Faircloth, of the UWF Police Department will be investigating the incident.