Office workers rescue window washers during storm. MONTREAL - As torrential rain and fierce winds lashed Montreal Tuesday afternoon, Alain Lapointe sat in his plush office on the 30th floor of a downtown office building oblivious to the chaos the sudden storm was causing just outside his window. But just before 2:30 p.m., that would all change. Lapointe heard a loud noise outside the building, just a few feet from his desk. He walked over to the window and was sickened by what he saw. Just below him, two terrified window washers had become trapped on their platform outside the Place Montreal Trust building on McGill College Ave. Swirling winds swung the platform back and forth, causing it to repeatedly slam into the building. One strong gust turned the platform 180 degrees in mid-air, terrifying office workers who were watching the drama unfold in other skyscrapers nearby. "One guy was crouched down trying to protect himself from the wind and rain and another was trying to cling to the window ledge," Lapointe recalled yesterday. "It was terrifying to watch. I thought they were going to die." Fearing the cables that suspended the platform to the roof would snap, plunging the men to an almost certain death, Lapointe told his administrative assistant, Magdalena Berthet, to call security.
Within seconds, security supervisor Sébastien Molaire, had joined Lapointe in his office on the 30th floor to assess the situation. "I saw two guys who looked very scared - I saw fear," Molaire said yesterday. At the security desk on the main floor, Berthet and security guard, Marco Labelle, were having trouble getting through to 911, because the emergency service was innundated with calls about other storm-related damage.Although they called 911 using three different phones, they say their calls went unanswered for about seven minutes. Molaire kept called Labelle on his walkie-talkie, telling him they needed the firefighters urgently. Frustrated at waiting so long for a 911 dispatcher to answer his call, Labelle eventually hung up and phoned the fire department directly. Back on the 30th floor, Lapointe and Molaire decided they could no longer wait for firefighters. With the winds continuing to gust, and the situation becoming desperate, they took matters into their own hands. Lapointe, a senior vice-president of a wealth management firm, told Molaire they needed to break the window and try to rescue the men themselves. He found a strong glass ball on a shelf in an adjacent office and handed it to Molaire, a strong 30-year-old who is planning to become a police officer. Using all his strength, Molaire pounded the glass ball against the thick window until there was a large hole in the two panes of glass, wide enough to pull the window washers to safety. As Molaire grabbed one of the men, Lapointe held the man's head so he wouldn't cut it on the broken glass as he slid through the window. Once both were safely inside, Lapointe slapped one of the shaken men on the shoulder and reassured him his terrible ordeal was over. "They were in shock and they were soaked," he said. "They said very little. I told one of them: 'Hey, you are inside. It is finished." Before the thunderstorm struck downtown, the window washers had been working on the 26th floor of the building. Their employers, Entretein McGill Inc., didn't return calls from The Gazette yesterday. Lapointe and Molaire said they didn't know why they men were still on the platform when the storm hit. However, someone with knowledge of the situation said the workers were caught off guard and waited too long before trying to make it back up to the roof. A spokesperson for the 911 service said its monitoring system showed that the longest wait time on Tuesday was about 4.3 minutes, not seven minutes, as Labelle and Berthet contend. "We received 1,353 calls between 2:30 and 3 p.m. (on Tuesday) said Richard Boyer. "There was a lot of wind and trees that were down, so everyone was calling. People waiting on the line for 911 often feel that the wait is longer than it is." Although the whole ordeal took about 15 minutes, Lapointe said it felt like an eternity. "If was frightening to watch them stuck there," he said. "We could see them though the window, but because the glass is tinted, they couldn't see us." During the daring rescue, Molaire cut his thumb and was taken to hospital for several stitches. His boss has given him a couple of days off to recuperate. The affable security guard downplayed his role in the rescue saying he was only doing his job. "I am happy that I helped save lives," he said. "My job is to do the best I can to help others and that's what I did." When asked whether he would consider including details of his heroic efforts on his curriculum vitae when applying to the police force, he chuckled. "We will see," he said. "I just might."
Within seconds, security supervisor Sébastien Molaire, had joined Lapointe in his office on the 30th floor to assess the situation. "I saw two guys who looked very scared - I saw fear," Molaire said yesterday. At the security desk on the main floor, Berthet and security guard, Marco Labelle, were having trouble getting through to 911, because the emergency service was innundated with calls about other storm-related damage.Although they called 911 using three different phones, they say their calls went unanswered for about seven minutes. Molaire kept called Labelle on his walkie-talkie, telling him they needed the firefighters urgently. Frustrated at waiting so long for a 911 dispatcher to answer his call, Labelle eventually hung up and phoned the fire department directly. Back on the 30th floor, Lapointe and Molaire decided they could no longer wait for firefighters. With the winds continuing to gust, and the situation becoming desperate, they took matters into their own hands. Lapointe, a senior vice-president of a wealth management firm, told Molaire they needed to break the window and try to rescue the men themselves. He found a strong glass ball on a shelf in an adjacent office and handed it to Molaire, a strong 30-year-old who is planning to become a police officer. Using all his strength, Molaire pounded the glass ball against the thick window until there was a large hole in the two panes of glass, wide enough to pull the window washers to safety. As Molaire grabbed one of the men, Lapointe held the man's head so he wouldn't cut it on the broken glass as he slid through the window. Once both were safely inside, Lapointe slapped one of the shaken men on the shoulder and reassured him his terrible ordeal was over. "They were in shock and they were soaked," he said. "They said very little. I told one of them: 'Hey, you are inside. It is finished." Before the thunderstorm struck downtown, the window washers had been working on the 26th floor of the building. Their employers, Entretein McGill Inc., didn't return calls from The Gazette yesterday. Lapointe and Molaire said they didn't know why they men were still on the platform when the storm hit. However, someone with knowledge of the situation said the workers were caught off guard and waited too long before trying to make it back up to the roof. A spokesperson for the 911 service said its monitoring system showed that the longest wait time on Tuesday was about 4.3 minutes, not seven minutes, as Labelle and Berthet contend. "We received 1,353 calls between 2:30 and 3 p.m. (on Tuesday) said Richard Boyer. "There was a lot of wind and trees that were down, so everyone was calling. People waiting on the line for 911 often feel that the wait is longer than it is." Although the whole ordeal took about 15 minutes, Lapointe said it felt like an eternity. "If was frightening to watch them stuck there," he said. "We could see them though the window, but because the glass is tinted, they couldn't see us." During the daring rescue, Molaire cut his thumb and was taken to hospital for several stitches. His boss has given him a couple of days off to recuperate. The affable security guard downplayed his role in the rescue saying he was only doing his job. "I am happy that I helped save lives," he said. "My job is to do the best I can to help others and that's what I did." When asked whether he would consider including details of his heroic efforts on his curriculum vitae when applying to the police force, he chuckled. "We will see," he said. "I just might."
A piece of plywood covers a 30th floor window of Place Montreal Trust that security supervisor Sbastien Molaire smashed with a glass ball yesterday during the severe storm to get 2 window washers to safety. They were on a scaffold that was being tossed about by the strong winds. The covered window is two floors below and to the right of the bottom of the bottom of the sign on the building.
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