...NEWS

ComTrain LLC provides quick accounts, whenever possible,
of the tragedies and other goings-on that befall our industry on a too-regular basis. 
 With constant awareness we can perhaps begin to facilitate positive change!

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IN THE NEWS

5 Senseless Deaths!
There is no question that everyone in our industry, who has read the news over the
last two days, is both horrified and stunned. Four months of growing belief that
we had finally improved the culture of our industry to embrace safety and
professionalism and now not one incident, but five horrible and preventable cases
of death by falling!  Preliminary information suggests that these individuals did not
die because of inadequate rigging, or improper manriding, or failed structures. They
did not die because of crane failures, or swinging loads, or tornadoes.  They did not
die being struck by dropped loads--they died from FALLING!

Of all the dangers inherent to tower work, there is none as obvious to all climbers than
the risk of falling; of all the elements of tower safety training the most basic is fall protection;
of all the safety equipment designed and used to protect tower workers, none is more
specialized, nor more intensively trained on, than the equipment designed to prevent falls
and/or serious falls. 100% Tie Off has become the mantra of the tower worker, and 100%
tie off does not mean...100% EXCEPT when crossing a small face, OR when exiting a ladder to
a platform, OR when it is only a few feet...there is no OR in 100% tie off!

Wireless Estimator report

Another lost climber...
Story: 04/16/08

A man doing maintenance work on a CPS Energy tower fell to his death Monday afternoon. Investigators say James Friesenhaun, 38,
fell 200-feet off the tower near Camp Bullis in the 19000 block of Northwest Military. Friesenhaun was part of a contract crew making
modifications to the tower. He was not an employee of CPS Energy. How Friesenhaun fell is under investigation.

The worker reportedly was loosening bolts on the steel that he was attached to when he fell. Two other technicians working on the
tower said that they saw their co-worker "sort of lean back a little bit, and apparently, after the last bolt that he loosened, he just
fell down 225 feet," according to Sergeant Prosser.

The tower erection industry had been cautiously enjoying a fatality-free period for over four months, but was saddened by the
nation's first death last Saturday in Wake Forest, NC.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. 04/12/08-- A man working on top of a tower Saturday afternoon
fell 150 feet and died.

The accident occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon
according to Raleigh communications. The tower is located at 11156
Capital Blvd., Wake Forest.

The victim was identified as Charles Wade Lupton, 34, from Midwest City
OK. Lupton was employed by MJM Group LLC from Franklin, Tenn.

The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation. Lupton's
body has been taken to the North Carolina Examiner's Office in Chapel
Hill, NC for an autopsy.

OSHA is also investigating the accident.

UPDATE:04/16/08

FULL STORY 04/07/08

FULL STORY  3/12/08

FULL STORY  3/06/08

FULL STORY 01/11/08
UPDATE  01/11/08
UPDATE  01/12/08  2 stations off the air. Workers scramble to free themselves of the falling tower.
UPDATE  01/14/08  Analog will be down for 2 mos. but digital back online.

FULL STORY 01/04/08

Update--Airwaves in process of carrying signal again...still some people without signal but getting there.

UPDATE:  Friday, December 7, 2007  By SARAH SCHILLACI, Herald News

An employee of Totowa-based JBL Electric plummeted from an electric tower to his death as he worked in Bridgewater on Wednesday afternoon.

Arthur Crane, a 45-year-old Stanhope resident and an electrical lineman, had been repairing the footings of a high tension tower on Milltown
Road that is owned by Public Service Electric and Gas. As he climbed the tower around noon on Wednesday, he slipped and fell about 80
feet to the ground.

One of Crane's two co-workers immediately called 911 via cell phone, and four members of the Bridgewater Police responded to the call.

They were joined by members of the Bradley Gardens Rescue Squad and a Mobile Intensive Care Unit from Somerset Medical Center. A
physician from the hospital pronounced him dead at 12:19 p.m. at the scene, and his body was transported to the New Jersey State Medical Examiner's office.

No prior incidents had ever occurred at the tower, said Bridgewater police Sgt. Richard Hollender.

Crane had two daughters and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

His uncle, Robert Crane, of Andover, reported that Crane's father was flying up from his home in Florida.

"We really don't know too much yet. We don't know about the arrangement," he said.

Dave Fiore, a business agent with IBEW Local 102 in Parsippany, confirmed that workers are harnessed while working on outdoor towers
but must remove the safety equipment when moving from one level to another.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been contacted and an investigation is pending.

Calls to JBL Electric in Totowa were not returned.
______________________________________________________________________

PSE&G contractor falls to death in Bridgewater
by Nyier Abdou/The Star-Ledger Wednesday December 05, 2007, 5:18 PM

A contract employee doing work on a PSE&G transmission tower in Bridgewater fell to his death this afternoon, the company said.

The worker, an employee of JBL Electric in Totowa, Passaic County, was installing some wireless attachments on the tower when he fell 60
feet, PSE&G spokeswoman Karen Johnson said.

"We don't know what happened," Johnson said. "It's under investigation."

The incident, which occurred near Milltown Road and Route 22, is the third fatal accident in the state in less than a week involving workers.

By Ali Baker, Staff Writer
Originally published November 9, 2007

OCEAN CITY, MD – A worker made it safely to the ground Thursday after a scaffolding accident
left him hanging from a condominium building by a safety harness. The scaffolding accident
yesterday morning at the Capri, located on 110th Street, resulted in a desperate attempt
by the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company to remove the restoration worker and bring him safely
to the ground.  The worker was on the sixth floor of the building when the scaffolding that he
was on collapsed, falling to the ground and leaving him strapped into the harness and hanging
three stories above the ground.  Tower 6 of the OCVFC arrived on the scene around 1:30 p.m.
The efforts of the fire fighters prevailed and the contractor was brought safely to the ground.
He was transported to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury with unknown injuries and
minor facial injuries.

Whether the reason for a fall is lack of proper equipment, lightning, or shortcuts taken by the climber,
the industry push for more technology will force people to climb the steel...and we MUST pay attention!

FULL STORY 10-29-07

So, You Think Birds & Ice & Lightning, for example, are some of the hazards to expect.
You're right, but what about the idiots you don't expect--like kids cutting your ropes!!!

FULL STORY 10-09-07

Several thefts of copper spread over several counties in TN.  The $3 per pound they might have
received for the copper sure won't pay for the costs resulting from getting caught!

FULL STORY 10-08-07

FULL STORY 09-25-07
 

What industry has a higher death rate than Mining, Logging or Offshore Fishing?  One to four
persons die per month on average...and that's one to four too many!  Read on...

FULL STORY 09-21-07
 

FULL STORY  08-14-07

FULL STORY 08-23-07

Was his equipment inferior, or...?

Aug. 11, Coshocton, OH.  A central Ohio man is in critical condition after a fall from a Ham radio tower. 
His friend couldn't get to him fast enough to help before the climber fell.

FULL STORY:  08-11-07

Man falls 25' from a platform, having been knocked off by a cable that
broke. Was he properly prepared with Fall Arrest procedures?

FULL STORY  08-11-07

FULL STORY: 07-30-07

July 24, 2007 - While working on a reinforcement project to add additional capacity to a Howell, Michigan monopole, a contractor accidentally set the structure's transmission lines on fire, causing the American Tower Corporation monopole to be completely destroyed.

UPDATE: 07-24-07

FULL STORY: 07-24-07

Police have released further details about the death of a Griffith man in a fall from a TV tower on Monday night.

FULL STORY: 07-18-07

Douglas County officials are on the scene of a reported double fatality accident this morning at a tower southeast of Lawrence near Kansas 10.

FOLLOW UP:  07-19-07

UPDATE: 07-10-07

FULL STORY: 07-10-07

FULL STORY: 07-09-07

The next time you get frustrated with your cell phone, consider this: Were it not for a dedicated corps of workers willing to scale the mammoth towers dotting the nation, the device in your hands might never function.
 

FULL STORY: 07-01-07

At least 25 labourers were injured, two of them seriously, when an under-construction tower reportedly of the Power Grid Corporation collapsed at Jogivita on the outskirts of Siliguri around 5.30 p.m. today.

FULL STORY: 07-02-07

Communications workers were shaken by a second fatality within a week when a Georgia man fell 177-feet to his death Saturday afternoon in South Carolina.

FULL STORY: 07-01-07

An Indiana teen died Thursday morning after falling about 100 feet from a cell phone tower in Mandarin.

Nicholas A. Fischer, 19, apparently fell off the cell phone tower behind the Food Lion on Old St. Augustine Road, according to Sgt. Rick Hike of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

FULL STORY: 06-07-07  (Including news video)

A Florida subcontractor working on a Morganton radio tower was critically injured Monday evening when he fell 52 feet to the ground, authorities said. The 31-year-old man, whom authorities would not name because they were still trying to contact his family, had just finished installing a new microwave dish on the 911 tower about 6 p.m. when he fell, said Maj. Ken Anthony of Burke County Emergency Services.

UPDATE: 06-05-07

FULL STORY: 06-04-07

Two Kosciusko County teens are in serious condition after they were shocked by low voltage power lines outside their home in Winona Lake late Tuesday afternoon.

It happened while the boys were helping an electrician take down a T-V antenna, in an eerily similar accident to one that happened 24 years ago. Both cases involve the same electrician.

FULL STORY: 05-31-07

A man, barefoot and arched backwards, hung from a rope 150 feet overhead on a microwave tower on Casper Mountain.

A passerby on East End Road called authorities about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday after seeing the worker twisting in the wind helplessly alongside a tool bucket.
 

FULL STORY: 05-09-07

A Wisconsin man died Monday after falling 90 feet while repairing power lines in Clinton Township, authorities said.

The 34-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, was an employee of Hooper Corp. of Madison, Wis., which Alliant Energy had contracted to repair utility lines after the weekend snow storm left thousands without electricity.

FULL STORY: 02-27-07

A terrible accident killed a worker in Mercer County after he fell 80 feet to his death.

Investigators say he was working on a high voltage tower at the Kentucky Utilities E.W. Brown plant when the accident happened Tuesday morning. That's near Shakertown.

FULL STORY: 03-27-07

UPDATE: 03-29-07

FULL STORY: 03-17-07

Brandon Dale Driggers, of Nocona, TX, married to Ashlee, and a loving father of four young children, wasn't able to fulfill Assistant Secretary Foulke's wishes to return home safely to his family after falling while installing new bracing. He was 2007's first known fatality of a worker falling from a communications structure.

FULL STORY: 03-15-07

CAMDEN COUNTY -- A television tower under construction in Camden County toppled during Friday's strong winds because concrete anchors were not large enough, according to the station's president.

FULL STORY: 03-07-07

Indiana Departments Perform Extreme Tower Rescue

On Jan. 18, Indiana departments were called to perform a difficult tower rescue involving weather and rigging                                                 challenges.

The deceptively simple 911 call first went to the Vigo County Sheriff's Office (VCSD) dispatch at 1303 hrs as                                                     "an unconscious person at a tower." The call was then relayed to fire dispatch, but at 1304 hrs, while the                                                     Sugar Creek Fire Department's (SCFD's) Engine 42 crew was en route, the VCSD notified them that the                                                               subject actually was on the communications tower, so they requested Service 41 to respond with rope equipment.

FULL STORY: 01-23-07

VIDEO: 1-23-07

Police say 3 men tried to steal wiring; 1 man burned severely

One of these guys looks familiar to us.

Does anyone out there recognize them?

FULL STORY:  01-05-07
 

Mannequin Hangs From TV Tower/Prank More Dangerous Than First Thought

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee police said a person responsible for a bizarre prank may be in serious danger.

Someone climbed a 1,200 foot TV tower in Lincoln Park, belonging to the local CBS station and hung a dummy on it.

FULL STORY: 12-11-06

UPDATE: 12-11-06

Television Tower Prankster Might Suffer Radiation Poisoning

Wisconsin - The person or people who climbed a 1,200-foot television tower to hang a dummy from the top may have exposed themselves to harmful radiation, Milwaukee police and the owner of the company that services the tower said Saturday. Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz urged anyone involved to see a doctor for possible radiation poisoning.
 

FULL STORY: 05-24-06

The man who fell from a radio tower Wednesday afternoon in Maumee remains in critical condition at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center.

According to a report from the Maumee Police Department, Michael Adams, of Martinsville, Indiana, was working on a radio tower on the Panhandle Pipeline Company property....

FULL STORY UPDATE: 05-18-06

Man Falls from County 9-1-1 Tower

FULL STORY UPDATE: 05-18-06

Worker hurt in fall from radio tower

(Maumee, OH) An Indiana man was hurt yesterday when he fell from a radio tower in the 1000 block of Illinois Avenue in Maumee, police said.  Michael Adams, of Martinsville, was flown to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, where he was in critical condition last night.

FULL STORY:  05-18-06

Well-known Ron J. Spears, W7IX, of Klamath Falls, Oregon, died May 14
when an Amateur Radio tower he was working on in Northern California broke
and toppled. He was 44.

News accounts say Spears, was
attempting to retrieve a 40-meter beam from atop a 170-foot tower near
MacDoel, California, when the structure collapsed and fell to the ground
with Spears still attached by his safety belt.

UPDATE: 06-07-06

Man dies in fall from tower

MACDOEL -- A Klamath Falls, Ore., man fell to his death Sunday while trying to remove a ham radio antenna from a 160-foot-high tower near Macdoel, Siskiyou County sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said Monday.

FULLSTORY: 05-16-06

THE WOODLANDS - A man who fell about 200 feet to his death from a cell phone tower tested positive for cocaine and marijuana.

FULLSTORY: 05-11-06

Mississippi man falls to his death from a cell tower in The Woodlands

FULL STORY: 04-11-06

EBENSBURG — A tower climber died Friday after he fell about 90 feet off a cell phone tower, Cambria County Coroner Dennis Kwiatkowski said.

Michael Sellers, 25, of Lebanon was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:25 a.m. by Dr. Robert Magley, Kwiatkowski said. Sellers suffered massive internal injuries.

Sellers, an employee of Sting Communications Inc. in Lebanon,

UPDATE: 05-08-06

Worker Falls From Ebensburg Cell Phone Tower

KDKA) A communications company worker is dead, after falling about 90 feet from a cell phone tower.
It happened near Bishop Carrol High School in Ebensburg.   The Cambria County coroner says 25-year-old Michael Sellers from near Harrisburg was climbing the tower to install an antenna when the accident happened.

FULLSTORY: 05-06-06

FULLSTORY: 05-03-06

A dump truck driver found a unique place to park his vehicle Tuesday. Underneath a high-voltage electrical tower.

“This is nothing like I have ever seen before,” said Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper B.J. Blankenbeker. “He picked a precise place to park it.”

Truck owner James Branch was traveling east on State Highway HH when his tires dropped off the right side of the road. When he pulled his wheel to the left....

FULLSTORY: 05-03-06

A death investigation is underway after a man falls 380 feet to his death. It happened in Central City at 10:30 Tuesday morning.

The 23-year-old victim was working for a company called Tower Services Incorporated on a cell phone tower.

FULL STORY: 05-02-06

FULL STORY: 04-18-06

TEMPLE HILLS, Md. -- Prince George's County firefighters battled a blaze at a cell phone tower in Temple Hills Friday morning.

Units were called to the 5300 block of Beech Place just before 11 a.m. for a 125-foot tower on fire and leaning.

FULL STORY: 04-17-06

A 39-year-old employee of a cell tower firm fell about 40 feet to his death last Thursday afternoon while completing work on a tower at Ellis Street in Milan.
Killed was Stephen Randel Gates of Lawrence, Arkansas, who was transported to Milan General Hospital but died before an AirEvac helicopter arrived.

FULL STORY: 04-14-06

Worker dies climbing Montco cell-phone tower

A 40-year-old Cingular Wireless subcontractor died yesterday afternoon after losing consciousness while climbing a cell-phone tower in Rockledge, authorities said.

Gerardo Rivera, of Patterson, N.J., was assigned to climb a cell-phone tower to take photos of the antennae array, Rockledge Police Department Senior Patrolman Oscar Horajeckyj said yesterday. About halfway up the tower at Rockledge and Robbins Avenue....

FULLSTORY: 04-13-06

UPDATE: 04-02-06

UPDATE: 03-31-06

Arvada man witnesses deadly water tower accident

A man fell 40-feet from a water tower to his death on March
30 during demolition. This photo was taken on March 29. Provided by: Terri L. Warriner

Contributed by: Mary Ann Lopez, YourHub.com on 3/31/2006

Dick Stanley was driving down Ward Road on his way to take his dog Bear for a walk March 30 when he saw a man fall from an Arvada water tower that was being prepared to be demolished.

FULL STORY:  03-31-06

FULL STORY: 03-29-06

"It's a mental game. It plays with you a little bit."  Joe Guentzel was talking about 1,400-foot tall television antenna tower he was about to climb so he could change a warning light.  "I always tell people it's roughly twice as high as the IDS [Center] for good reference," he says.  His tool belt/climbing harness jingle-jangled as Joe Guentzel climbed into it.

"You always gotta have a little fear, otherwise that's not a good thing either."

FULL STORY/VIDEO: 03-29-06

Demolition of Antennas Radio Liberty

Watch Video: March 22, 2006

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Martinsville Police Department investigators are looking into a two-person workplace fall that killed one Lynchburg-area contractor and sent another to a Roanoke hospital Monday afternoon.

Interviews with witnesses indicate the two tower climbers with Sky Tower Service, of Lynchburg, had completed installation of a WYAT-TV broadcast antenna on the 400-foot tower of WMVA-AM radio....

FULLSTORY: March 28,2006

UPDATE: 03-17-06

Man Working On Radio Tower Falls Dozens Of Feet

The victim, an outside contractor, was doing work on a Bell South communications tower on at 2010 Southwest 17 Avenue, off of Coral Way and 17th Avenue, when somehow his safety harness gave way. It happened this morning and City of Miami Fire?s Technical Rescue Team was the one called out for help.

With their specialty in rescues at high altitudes, the rescue team tried to get him down through a stairwell, but when that did not work they created their own stairs to get him down to safety.

FULLSTORY: 03-17-06

UPDATE: 03-15-06

Man Dies After Falling From FCC Tower

GLADSTONE, Mo. -- A 28-year-old man died Tuesday after falling more than 150 feet from a federal communications tower, authorities said.

Police were called to 68th Street and North Tracy Avenue at about 1:12 p.m. Witnesses told KMBC's Marcus Moore that the man had been wearing a safety harness and that they're not sure why he fell.

FULL STORY: 03-14-06

Water Tower Falls in Springfield

The nearly 100-foot water tower destroyed a fire department training trailer, two town vehicles, a barbeque shack and several large trees.
 

SPRINGFIELD, S.C. - A water tower being dismantled has toppled over, forcing 11 people to run for their lives. A demolition company was using two cranes to lower the tank when the boom on one broke. One crane operator suffered minor injuries when the nearly 80-year-old tank with its distinctive green frog logo fell Friday night.  The 150-foot tall tank tower, which hadn't been used for several years, smashed a mobile home.....

FULL STORY 03-05-06

A man was seriously injured while he tried to install a satellite dish on a cell phone tower in Springfield Township Tuesday afternoon.

The tower he was working on apparently fell over along Ridgeway Road near the Cross County Highway.

FULL STORY:  02-28-06

A 43-year-old White Bluff man is listed in critical condition at a Nashville hospital where he was taken by ambulance after he fell 100 feet from an electrical tower.

Authorities are still investigating the incident that injured Greg Woodard, 43, of Nosegay Road in White Bluff.

FULL STORY: 3-01-06

Ridge Farm man dies in fall

VEEDERSBURG, Ind. - A Ridge Farm, Ill., man working on a cellular telephone tower in Fountain County died Tuesday night when he fell from the top of the 150-foot tower.

Fountain County Sheriff's Department officials said Scott D. Henry, 31, was working on the cell tower in the first block of West Bonebrake Road near Veedersburg when he fell.

Police and emergency workers arrived about 6:19 p.m. and discovered Henry's body.

FULL STORY:  02-22-06

It's dangerous working on a bridge, dozens if not hundreds of feet above water. At best, you have a rope or a net to save you.

Falls are the leading cause of death for construction workers. The cause could be lost footing on a house roof or a dramatic drop from a radio tower hundreds of feet high.

FULL STORY:  02-21-06

KSDk-Rescure crews ended their search Friday evening for a worker who fell into the Mississippi River. He fell while trying to save 3 other painters on the Jefferson Barracks Bridge in south St. Louis County.

The missing man has been identified as 39 year old Jimmy Belfield. Belfield lives in Cadet, Missouri. He is married and has five children.

FULL STORY: 02-17-06

By SCOTT BRAND/The Evening News:  NEWBERRY - A freak accident on Monday afternoon took down a 282-foot
tower and temporarily left WNBY voiceless.  But it could have been much worse.  According to Michigan State Police reports, a 55-year-old Chelsea man was turning around in the WNBY parking lot when his snowmobile trailer caught a guy wire stabilizing the large steel structure.

FULL STORY:  02-15-06

Winton Wilcox, President & CEO, ComTrain: Every tower is a "remote" tower.  There is no such thing as a "short" tower.  Experience is no substitute for training.  Never shed responsibility to try to beat the clock you can't beat the Repear...

FULL STORY:  02-15-06

OSHA, company reach settlement in worker deaths

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - A Canadian company that employed two workers killed in a fatal fall at a malting plant here in 2004 have agreed to pay a $115,000 fine.

The fine settles a complaint filed by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration against FWS Design-Builders of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

FWS employees Andrew Sievertsen, 18, and James Miller, 22, were killed Nov. 22, 2004 when the scaffolding deck on which they were standing collapsed while they were working at the top of a grain silo at the International Malting Co. plant. The two feel about 140 feet.

FULL STORY: 02-15-06

FULL STORY: 02-10-06

by Craig Lekutis Cell tower climbers emerge as having the most dangerous job in America

FULL STORY: 02-07-06

Engineers Investigate Tower Collapse

Engineering experts are trying to find the reason the KLTV 7 News broadcast tower fell in Red Springs yesterday. A crew of engineers is looking at every possible angle, stress points, welding points, anything that could explain the fall of a more than 1,000 feet tower yesterday morning.

KLTV’s main broadcast tower collapsed

KLTV’s main broadcast tower collapsed this morning. The tower is located in the rural community of Red Springs, approximately ten miles north of Tyler. The tower was approximately.....

FULL STORY: 02-03-06

January 30, 2006 - Based upon the latest national census of fatal occupational injuries from the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers who are required to climb cell towers and other communications structures throughout the country have been identified as having the most dangerous job in America.

FULL STORY: 01-30-06

NAPLES — A worker fell 180 feet off a communications tower in East Naples Wednesday morning. The man, though in critical condition, was able to talk to rescuers as he was being airlifted to the hospital.

FULL STORY: 01-26-06

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta.  The Jakarta Police have charged two suspects in connection with last week's collapse of a transmission tower belonging to TV station TV7, which killed three residents and destroyed a number of houses

UPDATE: 1-30-06

City Admits TV7’s Killer Tower Lacked Permit

The Jakarta administration has admitted its culpability in the collapse of a television transmission tower that was being constructed without a permit by private network TV7 in a densely populated residential area.

The tower in Kelapa Dua neighborhood, Kebon Jeruk subdistrict, West Jakarta, had reached 104 meters of its planned 300 meter height, when it came crashing down at 4.30pm Monday (23/1/06) during a heavy storm, leaving three people dead, 14 seriously injured and nine buildings destroyed.

FULL STORY: 01-25-06

Safety of towers, billboards under review

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta: The fatal collapse of a TV7 transmission tower Monday raised questions for Jakartans, particularly when it was revealed a building permit for the tower was issued in the absence of a safety assessment.

FULL STORY: 01-26-06

Remnants of a radio tower that collapsed Saturday in Hollister lie on the ground next to a bulldozer Monday. An Oklahoma man, working atop the 80-foot tower when it fell, was killed.

FULL STORY: 01-25-06

UPDATE: 01-20-06

Central Penn Business Journal: 

FULL STORY: 01-06-06

FULL STORY: 01-06-06

Downtown Jefferson became a media hot spot Thursday, when news crews — and a crowd of onlookers — watched as emergency personnel rescued a painter who fell inside a water tower.  The approximately 40-year-old man, who police didn't identify, was painting the inside of the Jefferson water tower....

FULL STORY:  01-05-06

A man working to paint the interior of a water tower in the Northeast Georgia city of Jefferson lost his footing and fell 35 feet down the massive tank Thursday morning, authorities said. He was rescued after....

FULL STORY 01-05-06

JACKSON COUNTY -- Rescue crews are trying to reach a man trapped inside a water tower in Jackson County Dispatchers tell Channel 2 Action News that the man is inside a tower....

FULL STORY 01-05-06
 

FULL STORY 12-30-05

Click Here 12-28-05

In an unusual ruling, a federal court declared that a business, L.E. Myers Co., a subsidiary of MYR Group Inc. of Rolling Meadows, was guilty of violating five federal safety standards that contributed to the death of one of its employees.

FULL STORY UPDATE: 12-15-05

Firm fined for fatal flaws/Electrical contractor assessed $500,000

In a rare case in which a company's safety violations led to criminal charges, an electrical contracting firm was sentenced Thursday to pay $500,000 and serve 3 years' probation for its role in the death of an employee.

FULL STORY UPDATE: 12-09-05

Andrews firefighter helps rescue man from water tower

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (AMCNS) -- Andrews Air Force Base and Prince George’s County firefighters rescued a man from atop a 200-foot water tower here Dec. 5.

An electrical engineer with the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, Josh Vinson’s blood-sugar level dropped suddenly

FULL STORY: 12-09-05

MORNINGSIDE, Md. -- A 23-year-old man had to be rescued Monday after getting stuck on a 200-foot tall water tower and feeling sick and dropping in and out of consciousness.

Joshua Vinson, an electrical mechanic for WSSC, was working on the tower at Andrews Air Force Base when the incident unfolded.

FULL STORY 12-07-05

UPDATE: Worker Rescued From 200-Foot Md. Water Tower 

FULL STORY 12-05-05

VFirefighters in Prince George's County, Md., say a Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission employee working on a water tower is unconscious due to a medical emergency.

FULL STORY 12-05-05

The Nebraska State Patrol along with the Phelps County Sheriff's Office, and the Phelps County Attorney's Office are investigating the scene of a single engine plane crash Sunday morning. It occurred around 10:45am as the single engine plane crashed into a television tower owned by NET. The tower is located six miles south and west of Holdrege, Nebraska in Phelps County.

PHOTOS: CLICK HERE

UPDATE: FULL STORY 11-28-05

Ill. couple, child killed in plane crash

ATLANTA, Neb. -- Three Illinoisans are dead after their plane crashed into a broadcast tower in south-central Nebraska.

The Nebraska State Patrol has says the victims were the pilot, 24-year-old Daniel Walker, 20-year-old Heather Boatman and 3-year-old Kaylee Walker.

UPDATE: FULL STORY  11-28-05

Three Die As Plane Hits Broadcast Tower

ATLANTA, Neb. -- A single-engine airplane that crashed in south-central Nebraska was bound from Denver to Illinois, federal aviation officials said Monday.

Two adults and a child died after the plane struck a broadcast tower in Phelps County on Sunday. They were identified as...

FULL STORY 11-28-05

LEE - Three men were charged Thursday with stealing parts from a radio communications tower leased by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office.

Chief Deputy Kevin Hickey said the owner of the tower in the 14000 block of Tower Road was visiting the site around 11 a.m. and saw the men up on the 240-foot structure cutting off copper parts called wave guides.

FULL STORY 11-18-05

Sioux Falls utility worker dies in fall from Minnesota wind tower

CHANDLER, Minn. - A Sioux Falls man was killed after falling more than 200 feet from a wind tower after it caught fire Friday morning near Chandler, authorities said.

Benjamin James Thovson, 26, died at the scene after falling about 210 feet, Murray County (Minn.) sheriff's deputy Randy Donahue said.

FULL STORY 11-12-05

A Guatemalan national working on construction of a Digicel tower in Gran Couva died after falling from the pole at the cell site yesterday.

Humberto Nomesto Arogon, 32, died while undergoing treatment at the Couva District Hospital. The tower is about 100 feet tall and Arogon is reported to have been about 25 feet up the tower....

FULL STORY 11-02-05

The deaths of two men from Fort Providence have left their home community with many unanswered questions.  43-year-old Richard Sanderson and 35-year-old Dennis Thurber died while working on a communications tower near Enterprise on Friday.  The men, employees of SSI Micro, were putting up a 20-metre tower that would provide internet service to Enterprise.

FULL STORY 11-01-05

WALNUT GROVE -- Elk Grove firefighters late Thursday night continued to work on rescuing a man who became trapped on a 2,000-foot television tower in this south Sacramento County town after attempting to base jump from the structure.

FULL STORY 10-28-05

FULL STORY 10-25-05

MONROE, WI -- For 10 years Comtrain has been conducting tower safety and rescue classes based out of Monroe, and while many in the area might not even know Comtrain exists, their training is world renowned. 

We probably conduct training sessions in Monroe once every six weeks," Terri Nethery, sales manager and class coordinator for Comtrain said during Sunday's training session at a cell tower on County DR just north of Monroe.

FULL STORY 10-25-05

UPDATE: 10-03-05

Hot Air Balloon Gets Caught In N.M. Radio Tower

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A 69-year-old Albuquerque balloon pilot said a shift in winds caused the accident that forced him and two young passengers to shimmy down a 670-foot radio tower.  Sunday morning's accident came on the last day of the Balloon Fiesta.

FULL STORY: 10-10-04

For all you tower climbers, that thought you had it tough out there.....

(ABC 4 News/AP) -- Emergency crews pulled off a daring rescue in Little Cottonwood Canyon Tuesday after a construction worker fell 12 feet, landing on his head in a septic tank.

FULL STORY 09-15-05

Jury: Death of tower worker could have been avoided

(Worker dies in fall from Verizon tower)

UPDATE: 09-09-05

The death of an Arizona man who fell from a partially dismantled Verizon tower in June could have been avoided if safety guidelines had been met, a Logan County coroner's jury ruled Wednesday.   Tobe D. Wheale, 43, of Glendale, Ariz., died June 6th.......

FULL STORY 09-09-05

Worker dies in fall from Verizon tower

LINCOLN (CNS) - A 43-year-old Arizona man lost his life Monday after falling 120 feet from a partially dismantled Verizon tower in the 1900 block of Fifth Street Road. Lincoln firefighters were called to the scene at 11:03 a.m.

UPDATE 06-17-05

UPDATE 06-08-05

FULL STORY 06-06-05

Tower workers back on job

For the first time since a fatal accident 10 days ago, workers returned to the Verizon tower in the 1900 block of Fifth Street Road to continue the dismantling process.

Snipers Firing On Workers Repairing Cell Phone Towers

NEW ORLEANS -- There are reports from New Orleans of shots being fired at cell phone workers on towers trying to restore service.

Authorities have been going door to door at nearby apartment buildings, sometimes forcing doors open in their search for......

FULL STORY 09-07-05

UPDATE: 09-07-05

FULL STORY

Linda Ballasch said she feels vindicated, now that she knows her Sterling son did nothing wrong before he accidentally fell to his death from a 180-foot cell-phone tower in Yuma this winter.

OSHA cites Viaero: Fatal fall from tower near Yuma

UPDATE 08-30-05

Viaero Wireless of Fort Morgan has been cited by the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for unsafe working conditions.

The citation stems from a fatal accident Feb. 25 at a communications tower near Yuma. Proposed penalties total $115,500.

Family Seeks Answers In Son's Death

Two Sterling parents plan to bury their son here, after he fell 180 feet to his death Friday from a cellular phone tower outside Yuma.

Yuma, CO (Family Seeks Answers)

Yuma, CO.  A man died of massive head and chest injures after falling from a cellular telephone tower at the west end of Yuma, last Friday afternoon.

UPDATE   03-04-05

FULL STORY  03-03-05

08-10-05 Update

Initial reports indicated that Gantt's fall protection equipment failed as he was descending the 400' guyed tower, according to Air Force base commander Lt. Col. Charles Cynamon.

"We don't understand at this point the reason for the fall and the release of the safety harness," Cynamon said.

08-08-05 UPDATE

A man erecting a communications tower about 10 miles south of Poplar Bluff died when he fell approximately 80 feet Wednesday. Daniel Arnold, 38, of Alton, Ill., was taken by ambulance to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center...

Alton man falls to death from tower

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. A man from Alton (Illinois) has fallen to his death from an 80-foot microwave tower he was working on in southeastern Missouri.

Authorities say 37-year-old Daniel Arnold fell on Wednesday after a safety clip failed to close properly.

08-05-05 FULL STORY

A utility worker on a concrete light pole fell more than 40 feet to his death while doing contract work at Duck Samford Park in Auburn.

James Edward McCormick, 40, died in the fall late Thursday evening...

08-05-05 FULL STORY

NEW PARIS, Ohio -- An Eaton, Ohio, man fell to his death Saturday while installing an antenna on the radio tower behind the Northwest Fire and EMS building in New Paris.

08-01-05 UPDATE

Worker who fell from 150-ft Wataniya tower in Alifushi dies

MALE, August 3 (HNS) An Egyptian who was installing a 150-ft tall Wataniya Telecoms tower in Raa Atoll Alifushi island has died.

Alifushi health center said that man who died after the incident which took place on Monday evening was Wisam Abdul Majeed...

08-03-05 FULL STORY

NEW PARIS, Ohio -- Investigators said a man was killed while installing an antenna in Preble County. They said Robert French, 51, of Eaton..

08-01-05 FULL STORY

Vancouver, British ColumbiaA veteran stuntman for The WB's "Smallville" was seriously injured in a fall from a 37-foot tower during filming in Canada.

07-27-05 FULL STORY

ComTrain has been informed that a climber fell 90 foot from a monopole in the Phoenix, AZ area.  Details are sketchy, however what we are being told that the fall took place on a monopole with step bolts and that the step bolts had something to do with the fall.

(As more public information is available we will include it in this news section.)
                                     

“Riding the hook”  Who would like to give their opinion on this picture? 

This guy is sitting in a sling and being lifted by a crane. This practice that has been illegal for decades, as any certificated crane operator should know.

07-18-05 FULL STORY

Discussions with the injured climber and his crew have revealed pertinent information.  Apparently the climber was attached to the Z bracing of a Rhone 25, with his positioning lanyard (not very smart), he was moving his shock absorbing lanyard, when the bracing broke off and dropped him.

07-12-05 Climber Down! FULL STORY UPDATE 

07-11-05

Climber Down!  Nearly 60 foot fall two bounces and the tower rigger survives! 

By Terri Nethery/ComTrain.  Monday, July 11, 2005 in Michigan City Indiana a tower rigger fell nearly 60 feet from a guyed tower mounted atop a roof top.  The climber’s partner was getting equipment from his truck and did not witness the fall but a nearby worker saw the fall in mid-air. 

ComTrain sources suggest that the fallen climber struck a pitched roof about 15-20feet down then bounced to a lower roof landing on his face.  The fallen rigger says that he never lost consciousness.  The fallen rigger said “I heard a snap, and then fell”.  Broken legs, broken pelvis and internal damage the climber was undaunted, when his partner wanted to take his harness at the hospital the rigger said “don’t take my harness, I’ll need it” as though he was going back to finish the job. 

(As more public information is available we will include it in this news section.)

SPRINGVILLE, Va. - An employee for a contractor working on American Electric Power's 765 kV power line project from Wyoming County to Jacksons Ferry, Va., was injured Monday morning while working on one of the towers in the section of line in the Tazewell/Bland county area.

FULL STORY 06-27-05

Two labourers were killed on the spot when a BSNL tower, which they were repairing, fell on them at Vastral in Kanbha on Wednesday evening.

FULL STORY 06-23-05

SENATH, MO - An investigation continues into the fatal accident in southeast Missouri involving a crop-dusting plane.

FULL STORY 06-18-05

Suspect Atop Atlanta Crane for Third Day

Negotiators just feet away 18 stories up

ATLANTA, Georgia--At one point in the afternoon, he moved closer to negotiators trying to persuade him to descend. The man, identified by police as Carl Edward Roland, 41, climbed the crane at about 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Suspect in Florida death atop Atlanta crane

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A man sought in connection with his ex-girlfriend's death refused to climb down Thursday from an 18-story crane he ascended the day before at an Atlanta construction site.

UPDATE 05-26-05

UPDATE 05-27-05

FULL STORY 05-26-05

Winnipeg Free Press--A repairman who fell off a radio tower in an industrial accident this month
has died and will be buried near his home in Saskatchewan on Monday.
Chris Mosterd, 22, of Aberdeen, Sask., was in the intensive care ward for 10
days before dying April 20 at Health Sciences Centre.

FULL STORY 05-23-05

CROSBYTON--A tragic accident in Crosby County takes the life of a crop duster pilot.  Authorities say William Tidwell, 56, died after his plane clipped a tower and crash-landed in a field.

FULL STORY 05-19-05

NEW BOSTON — A veteran radio tower climber fell about 100 feet while working on a tower at the New Boston Air Force Station Monday evening and died on his way to the hospital, officials said yesterday

UPDATE 05-18-05

Police Say Man's Harness Equipment Failed

UPDATE  05-18-05

-Video- Colorado Man Dies In Fall From New Hampshire Tower

UPDATE 05-18-05

Colo. man dies after fall from radio tower

NEW BOSTON – A Colorado man died after falling nearly 100 feet from an Air Force tracking station radio tower.

Frank Gantt was taking a break from conducting routine maintenance Monday evening when his safety harness failed, state police Sgt. Philip Jepson said.

FULL STORY 05-18-05

OUCH! $74,000.00 in fines, 1 Dead, 3 Injured....."Failing to adequately train....."

FULL STORY 05-04-05

Man falls to his death in Watonga

WATONGA-A 27-year-old man died Tuesday after falling 240 feet from a cellular phone tower just south of town, authorities said.

The accident occurred near State Highway 33, Watonga Police Chief Gary Clyden Said.

Fort Gibson man dies after fall from tower

A Fort Gibson man died Tuesday of multiple injuries he received as the result of a fall from a tower.

John Paul Yen, 26, was working in Watonga in Blaine County when the accident occurred.

UPDATE 04-27-05 More confusion, are these two stories related?

FULL STORY 04-26-05

COMFORT, Texas -- Two utility workers were electrocuted Thursday afternoon at the substation of the Lower Colorado River Authority in Comfort.

FULL STORY 04-22-05

Abseiling worker falls to his death

A man has fallen to his death outside the office of the mayor of Cape Town.

The exterior of the towering Civic Centre is being refurbished. And the work is done by expert abseilers. But on Saturday it appears one of the company's workmen made a grave error.

FULL STORY 04-22-05

10-Story Fall Kills Worker In Orange County

A worker in Orange County, Fla., who fell 10 stories died from his injuries Monday afternoon, according to Local 6 News.

The man fell on county Road 535, just south of Interstate 4 at Meadown Creek Drive.

FULL STORY 04-18-05

Man falls to death while working on water tower

A south Louisiana man fell to his death Tuesday afternoon while working on a water tower near downtown Baton Rouge.

Worker, 36, falls to his death while painting water tower, two co-workers grab rope and survive.

A man hired to paint a central Baton Rouge water tank fell more than 100 feet to his death Tuesday after the scaffolding he shared with two co-workers broke loose and tumbled to the ground.

The co-workers survived by grabbing ropes and pulling themselves to safety, Baton Rouge Police spokesman Cpl. Don Kelly said.

Worker falls to his death while painting water tower

BATON ROUGE, La. A 26-year-old man hired to paint a central Baton Rouge water tank fell more than 100 feet to his death after the scaffolding he shared with two co-workers broke loose and tumbled to the ground.

UPDATE 04-06-05

UPDATE 04-06-05

FULL STORY 04-06-05

TSU worker falls to his death

Unharnessed worker falls from bridge, dies

FULL STORY  03-29-05

Firefighters Review Water Tower Rescue

ALISBURY-  Emergency officials say rescues like the one last week in which a man was dangling from inside a Wor Wic Community College water tower will become more common.   

Man Rescued After Being Trapped in Wor-Wic Water Tower

SALISBURY- A construction worker was pulled to safety Tuesday by rescuers after falling 40 feet inside a water tower on Walston Switch Road in Salisbury.

UPDATE 03-21-05

FULL STORY  03-16-05

Henry County Police are investigating the death of a Kentucky man who fell Sunday morning while working on a water tower in Stockbridge.

FULL STORY  03-16-05

CENTERVILLE - A Peach County man scaled a 130-foot water tower late Saturday, resulting in the dispatch of special response teams from multiple police jurisdictions, emergency medical workers and a fire rescue team.

FULL STORY  03-09-05

WASHINGTON-North Carolina authorities confirmed they are investigating the death of a man who fell at least 100 feet from a cell-phone tower owned by Alltel Corp. and managed by American Tower Corp.

FULL STORY  03-04-05

Two Sterling parents plan to bury their son here, after he fell 180 feet to his death Friday from a cellular phone tower outside Yuma.

Yuma, CO (Family Seeks Answers)

Yuma, CO.  A man died of massive head and chest injures after falling from a cellular telephone tower at the west end of Yuma, last Friday afternoon.

UPDATE   03-04-05

FULL STORY  03-03-05

A medal hangs off Hidekatsu Kajitani's neck and he is used to talking about how it got there.

 FULL STORY  03-03-05

Wilson, NC-- Authorities say a Roxboro man was killed Friday morning when he fell more than 100 feet from a cell tower in Wilson County.

N.C. Man Dies In Fall From Cell Tower

WILSON, N.C. -- Authorities say a Roxboro man was killed Friday morning when he fell more than 100 feet from a cell tower in Wilson County.

UPDATE  02-27-05

FULL STORY  02-25-05

FULL STORY  02-27-05

A Sioux Falls company faces nearly $100,000 in fines as the result of a deadly accident at a Southwest Minnesota water tower.

FULL STORY   02-15-05

Two men were severely injured Thursday when part of a cell phone tower being assembled in rural Lancaster County, S.C., crashed 100 feet to the ground, officials said.

Two workers injured when cell phone tower collapses

SOUTH OF LANCASTER -- Two men working on a cellular phone tower in Lancaster County were injured Thursday when a cable broke collapsing a section.

UPDATE  02-11-05

FULL STORY 02-10-05 

MORE NEWS STORIES

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