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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Cell tower worker slips, gets rescued by Fire Department

A cell tower worker, right, balances on the end of a fire department ladder Saturday afternoon after he slipped off the tower platform and his fellow worker, left, held on to part of the safety rigging as the man dangled until the fire department could put up the ladder. Fire department officials said that the man, who didn't give his name or speak to the media, wasn't securely in his safety harness and was unable to climb back to the platform, even with help from a co-worker. A technical rescue firefighter climbed the ladder and brought the man down safely. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
A cell tower worker, right, balances on the end of a fire department ladder Saturday afternoon after he slipped off the tower platform and his fellow worker, left, held on to part of the safety rigging as the man dangled until the fire department could put up the ladder. Fire department officials said that the man, who didn't give his name or speak to the media, wasn't securely in his safety harness and was unable to climb back to the platform, even with help from a co-worker. A technical rescue firefighter climbed the ladder and brought the man down safely. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
A cell tower worker slipped on Sunday afternoon from a platform more than 100 feet in the air and was dangling by a part of his safety harness before being rescued by Spokane firefighters. The accident at 2 p.m. occurred while two workers were atop the tower. Their names were not given. No injuries were reported. The second worker held onto the man’s safety harness while awaiting the rescue. A ladder truck from Station No. 1 at Riverside Avenue and Browne Street raced to the scene on north side of the Eagles Ice-A-Rena in about the 6500 block of North Addison Street. Firefighters raised their 110 foot ladder and pushed it up to the feet of the man who has in danger of falling from the harness around his waist. He had come free of his upper harness. “He was only part way in” his safety gear, said Battalion Chief Joel Fielder. The chief estimated that the man was dangling at 105 feet above the ground, and said that the fire ladder was fully extended. The man propped himself on the ladder while a high-angle rescue technician from Station No. 4 at 1515 W. First Ave. used the ladder to put the man in a fire department harness and brought him down. “We are all very fortunate here, especially that cell phone worker,” Fielder said. The men left the scene quickly, avoiding news media interviews. There was no identity given for their company.