Window Washers Rescued Downtown San Diego

SAN DIEGO - A scaffolding failure left two window washers dangling from the side of an office building downtown. The two washers are a father and son team--Zachary Cook Jr. and Sr.
"When it got to a certain length, there's nothing else you can do except hang on" Cook Jr. said. He was describing when the motor on the scaffolding malfunctioned, sending the scaffolding almost to a 90 degree angle. At first, "a lot of water fell on me" Cook Jr. said. The two men were stuck for more than thirty minutes. But to Cook Jr., "it seemed a lot longer than that."
During the wait, Cook Jr. made a cell phone call. "I called my work and told them that I might be late for my other job." San Diego Fire-Rescue crews were able to reach the two window washers from an 8th floor window at Advanced Equity Plaza, formerly called Broadway 655. The building is located at West Broadway and Kettner Boulevard. Fire spokesman Maurice Luque said rescue crews had two choices on how to rescue the men--scale down the building from the top or break the window. Breaking a window "was chosen because it was the easiest, the fastest, the quickest, and safest way to make the rescue" Luque said. Luque said it took five swings to break through the first pane of glass. Eventually, they were able to rescue the men, who were not injured. Witness Jennifer Grover looked on in awe. "Firefighters are amazing. Some people are heroes you know." Broadway Ave. remained closed for several hours as crews brought down the scaffolding gently. Traffic is now back to normal. Meanwhile, Cook Jr. plans to get back to his window washing job tomorrow. "Yeah, maybe not this building" he said.

Window washers saved after dangling from broken scaffold: Hundreds of people watched Thursday as two window washers dangled for about 30 minutes from a broken scaffold on the side of a high-rise building before being rescued. Firefighters broke a window on the 11th floor of the 24-story building at Broadway and Kettner Boulevard and pulled the two people, a father and son, inside. They were not injured, said Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. Authorities got a call about 1:30 p.m. that the washers were stuck on the tilting scaffolding. Luque said it was breezy at the time and the scaffolding was blowing in the wind. A hydraulic motor malfunctioned, which loosened one of the cables holding the scaffolding and caused the platform to tilt vertically, Luque said. The men were attached by harnesses to the scaffolding. The area underneath the scaffolding was blocked off, but onlookers watched from sidewalks behind yellow tape and from nearby buildings.
The window washers, Zachary Scott and his son, Zachary Scott Jr., have a family business, A to Z Window Washing. They were swamped by the news media as they exited the building after the rescue. They told reporters they were calm while waiting to be rescued on the platform, which was about 3½ feet wide and 20 feet long. “We just had to be calm and wait for help to come,” Scott Jr. said. The son said the motor on the scaffolding would not shut off and one end of the scaffold flopped toward the street. He and his father huddled against one end of the scaffolding until they were rescued.
Luque said no one on the ground was injured by falling glass when the window was broken because the area had been cordoned off. Some of the glass landed on a roof that was the top of a lower floor on the building, he said. Luque said firefighters evaluated several options and decided that breaking the glass was the quickest and safest way to rescue the pair. Although the incident attracted a lot of attention, Luque said it was not that uncommon and a similar incident occurred six to eight months ago at the nearby NBC building downtown.
“These kinds of rescues are not that unusual,” Luque said. “Our people train for these, and they are ready to go when situations like this occur.” Luque said about 20 firefighters and other rescue personnel responded. Scott Jr., who has worked as a window cleaner for more than 10 years, said the motor malfunctioned even after he repeatedly pushed the emergency cut-off button. He said he knew something was wrong “when the motor started going down on its own.”
“When it gets to a certain length, there's nothing else you can do except hang on,” he said.
“If it falls, you have to hope your safety line catches,” he said. “Other than that, there's nothing else you can do.”
Although the rescue was in 30 minutes, “It seemed a lot longer than that,” he said. He said he planned to continue to wash windows, “although maybe not this building.” After he was rescued, he was seen on a cell phone. “I was calling my work, telling them I'd be late for my other job. They said 'I hope you're doing all right.”' He said his dad called his mom. Among those who stopped to watch the rescue and its aftermath were Joe and Amelia Valvo, a 55-year-old firefighter and his wife from Connecticut, passengers from the cruise ship Sapphire Princess that had just been diverted from Mexico to San Diego because of the swine flu outbreak. Valvo, a 32-year veteran of the Newington, Conn., Fire Department, warmly praised his San Diego counterparts.
“They did awesome work,” Valvo said. “Given the options that they had, I think they made a good decision (to rescue the workers by breaking the window).” Debbie Camp, a 58-year-old tourist from Irvine, agreed: “Kudos to the San Diego Fire Department. They made an incredible save!”