Window Cleaner Rescued After Chair Chain Snaps

Dangling window washer rescued from top of McCaw Hall: SEATTLE - Firefighters rescued a terrified window washer Thursday after he slipped from his seat and was left dangling 60 feet above the ground at Seattle Center's McCaw Hall. The man was cleaning windows outside the buildings' top floor Thursday just before noon when some kind of malfunction caused him to fall from his seat.

His fall was broken by a safety line after he fell about nine feet, but he was left hanging in mid-air, unable to pull himself back up to the roof. Denise Bolstad of Pacific Northwest Ballet said she was in a meeting inside the building when she heard someone yelling.

"So I looked out the window, and I didn't see anybody, but the yelling continued, and my meeting continued, and I didn't see anything," she told KOMO News. "Finally I looked up, I tried to figure out what it was outside my window - and that's when I looked up and saw this man hanging there. And I was, 'Oh my God, this man is hanging there.' ... Then we went and called 911, and they were here in one minute or less."

One Seattle Fire Department rescue team deployed to the roof of the building to stabilize the man while a second team extended a ladder to him from a fire truck. The man was able to walk down the ladder safely with the assistance of a firefighter.

Bolstad says she felt sorry for the man, who had been dangling there for 20 minutes before anyone else was aware of his predicament. "I felt bad for him," she says. "I felt like I needed to go give him a hug when he got down." Julie Jameson, who watched the rescue from the ground level outside the building said she was praying for the window washer the whole time. She praised the fire department for its quick, professional response.

After the rescue, the window washer was shaken up but uninjured. The man, who is fluent in Spanish, told KOMO News that he was afraid he was going to fall to his death at first. And he was grateful for the fire department's quick response. Asked what he told them, he said, "Gracias."

Window washer dangles at Center: 'Happy to be down' - Jose Garcia is an old hand at washing windows, but on Thursday he gained a new appreciation of the potential dangers of his job. Just before noon, as Garcia was washing windows on McCaw Hall, he slid off his seat about 65 feet above the ground at Seattle Center. He spent about 40 minutes dangling from his harness before he was rescued by Seattle firefighters. Garcia, 36, of Burien, was not injured, but he was clearly frazzled by the incident. "I'm OK," said Garcia a few minutes after making it safely to the ground. "I'm just happy to be down."

Garcia, who has worked as a window washer for seven years with SunWest Property Maintenance, an independent contracting company, never had a mishap like this. Garcia was working alone, as he usually does, and had finished cleaning the hall's fifth-floor front windows when a chain securing his seat snapped. "I don't know what happened," he said. According to Kyle Moore, public information officer for the Seattle Fire Department, Garcia then tumbled about eight feet from his seat, but was caught by a backup safety line. Garcia said he didn't have the strength to pull himself up to his seat, so he wrapped his arms and legs around the line, screaming for help. "I was yelling 'Help, help, call 911,' " said Garcia.

 Jose Garcia, a window washer is escorted down a Seattle Fire Department ladder truck outside McCaw Hall, Thursday, July 14, 2011 in Seattle. Seattle firefighters have rescued a window washer who slipped out of his seat and dangled about 65 feet off the ground outside a building at the Seattle Center civic complex.

Deborah Daoust, director of communications for the Seattle Center, said an employee from the Pacific Northwest Ballet, whose office faces the performance hall, heard Garcia's cries and called 911 at 11:47 a.m. The Fire Department's technical rescue team responded. Firefighters went onto the roof and dropped a rope to keep Garcia, who was about 15 feet below the roofline, from falling further, Moore said. Another firefighter then climbed a ladder and helped Garcia climb down, he said. Garcia was safely on the ground by 12:30 p.m., Moore said. "Everything worked properly," Moore said. "We're glad he's OK."

Globe Window Talk Above The City

Jason Boone, an employee for Globe Window Cleaning, works outside the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles building on W. Broad Street, giving those inside a clearer view of Downtown.

A windowful life - Columbus cleaners an audience to city's daily dramas: It is one thing to walk the streets of Downtown, weaving your way along a busy sidewalk. It is a whole different thing to watch it from 100 feet in the air, dangling alongside a building by a rope. Well, in Josh Wood's case, it's two ropes. Wood, of London, is not Spider-Man but part of a 20-member crew working for Globe Window Cleaning. They wash windows from ground level to the top of the Rhodes Tower, the tallest building Downtown, 629 feet above E. Broad Street, as well as other buildings that form the Columbus skyline. "Heights have never been a problem for me," said Wood, who has several years of window-washing experience.

Chris Baze, a West Side resident, finds parts of the job - such as climbing over the edge of a building - a little bit of a rush. "I like the adrenaline," he said. "Back when I first started, it really got my heart pumping, and you freak out a little bit. The first time (my friend) put me over the edge, I was just thinking, 'What are you doing?'" But the father of six found courage in knowing he had people counting on him. "I knew I either had to do it or go flip burgers," Baze said.

Long-time work:

Globe is owned by Ron DeCapio, who bought the business in 1967 from his father, Andrew DeCapio. He moved it to Columbus in 1979 because of work being done at Ohio State University. The family tradition runs so deep that the elder DeCapio began washing windows in 1933 in Cleveland before starting Globe 60 years ago in Mansfield. Andrew DeCapio was cleaning windows three days before his death, the son said. And up until 10 years ago, Ron DeCapio, 72, was still washing windows with his crew. Being an owner and window washer wasn't meshing well any longer, so he retired his squeegee - but it was difficult. "I got called away so many times. It just didn't make sense anymore," DeCapio said.

DeCapio, who remains owner but now is retired from day-to-day activities, wears a polo shirt and khakis instead of the jeans and T-shirt his workers sport. He'd prefer to hang off the side of a building rather than sit behind a desk. "It's actually calmer," he said. "It's something you have control of. You can't control what a customer is going to think." DeCapio has seen his fair share of change during his years in the window-washing business.

The system used to put the workers on the side of a building is different from when he first started, with the shift from "block and tackle" to "chairing." Block and tackle has workers standing on suspended scaffolding, using a pulley system to pull themselves to the roof before starting work. Chairing has window cleaners in a harness sitting on a single-seat bench, anchored to a rooftop with two ropes - one main line and a safety rope.

Wood, 34, said the move to chairing is welcomed. Workers who do chairing make around $14 to $17 per hour while someone new with no experience can make $10 per hour. "A lot of set-up time is saved with chairing," Wood said. "Something with a scaffold, it would take you two hours to get it set up and ready to go. A guy with a chair and ropes is already set up."

A job with a view:

DeCapio and Wood disagree about which system is better, but they said they can agree on one thing about the job - the view from high up is incredible. The Columbus skyline typically can only be seen a couple of miles outside the city, but it is one perk of working so high up, Baze said. "You get to see the city change," Baze said. Baze, 36, started window cleaning through AAA before moving to Columbus and starting work with Globe. The vantage point also gives the workers a good look at what is happening on the streets. "You see the characters that you have in the city that no one else may see," Wood said. Whether it's a Kroger bag whizzing around 30 stories in the air, hovering falcons or a notorious homeless man running around cussing people out, it's always an interesting view, Wood said.

For Patrick Basso, one of the newest members of the crew, the heights involved are "just another part of the job." The crew is aware of the possible danger involved with their work hanging above Columbus streets. While they consider it to be no more risky than any other job, their families don't quite buy it. Jason Boone, 35, has been cleaning windows for 13years, but Boone said his three kids still worry about his safety. "The kids don't like it," he said. "They don't want anything happening to Dad." With an 8-month-old son, Basso said he is always reminding his family of how safe he is at work. "It's a real Catch-22," he said. "You have to do what you have to do to make money. My mom absolutely hates it. My girlfriend doesn't like it. They cope with it, though."

Safety is the No. 1 priority for his workers, DeCapio said. Wood said it is also his first thought before heading over the edge of a building. "I'm thinking about making sure my stuff is secured and set and that everyone around me is secured and set," Wood said. "Our first thought is safety. You can't stress it enough when you literally have everyone's life hanging by a thread. "I've never flown in a plane. I would rather climb over the side of an 80-story building than ride in a plane." Safety protocol can only go so far, as DeCapio said it comes down to the person making sure it's followed. "With my experience, I have found that the accidents happen to the guys that are more near the ground," he said. "The guys that are higher are paying attention. Sometimes the guys that are working maybe two stories are not."

How To Get My Job: High-Rise Window Cleaner

Do they hum the Spider-Man theme song all day? Probably!

How to get my job - High-rise window cleaner (By Thorin Klosowski): We've always been fascinated with risky jobs, but there are few in the world more insane to anyone with a fear of heights than a high-rise window washer. There is no amount of money you could pay us to rappel off of a giant glass building. Thankfully for people who live and work in those buildings, there are workers with the balls to do it, which is why we reached out to Reflection Windows & A Premier Services LLC to have a few of their employees answer some questions for us this week.

Tell us a little about your histories as window cleaners.

Nate Carr (owner): After working in a corporate setting for many years I just couldn't take it any longer. An acquaintance turned me on to window cleaning, and within a month I was sold. When the amount of work got to be too much, I had to hire on service techs to assist me in the cleaning of houses and large office buildings, and here we are today.

Mr. Garcia: I started cleaning windows after working at a construction site, where I saw Nate cleaning windows on a house. At that time we were cleaning anything from houses to large buildings.

Chris Trujillo: I've been a window cleaner for five years. I started off working for a maintenance cleaning company, but I ran out of places to go there so I pursued an opportunity with Reflection Windows, where I'm now going on my third year.

Why did you start working in the industry?

NC: Two benefits of this profession are working outside and freedom. What else do you want in life?

CT: I started in this industry for its job security, and it became more than that to me. I enjoy the personal satisfaction I get at the end of each day when I see the finished projects.

How would you recommend someone get started in your field? What type of person is best suited for hanging off the side of a building?
MG: Make sure that you are healthy, in shape and have an open mind. Of course, it's also someone who is not afraid of heights and can be safe.

NC: I'd also recommend you should go into it with an open mind, because more than likely, it's not going to be what you expect. It's much harder than most people think. It might be a surprise, but customer service and satisfaction is key in this industry. A person best suited for high-rise would have to be one that isn't afraid of heights and who is very safety oriented.

Can you describe an average day?
CT: It's hard to say what an average day would be, because we have so many different types of jobs. From route work, which is cleaning store fronts/retail jobs, to high-rise, which is chair work/stage work, and residential, where we service individual residences.
 

What's the best part of the job?
MG: I enjoy seeing a completed job. No one bothers you 200 feet up in the air, and it's peaceful with a beautiful view.

CT: One of the best parts about my job would have to be the fact that every day is different and I get to be outside each and every day.

You think you have what it takes to hang off a building in a swing?

What's the worst part?
NC: The worst part of the job is when instructions are not followed, as it pertains to either schedules not getting completed because of weather conditions or individuals that do not follow company policy, which results in reprimand or suspension. Communication is an important key in this industry, and if for whatever reason instructions are not followed, it really frustrates me to issue warnings and/or terminations.

CT: The worst part about my job would have to be the weather, because if it's too windy we have to move out of the wind and if it's too cold or too hot it makes it more challenging to safely and effectively clean the glass.

MG: I have found that ensuring safety from the time we leave the shop to the time we return can sometimes be difficult. We have a lot of guys, so ensuring their safety can be challenging.
 

How about the biggest misconception?
MG: That I don't care about anything and that we are not responsible for the jobs. People think it is easy and the labor is unskilled. Not true.

NC: I agree - the biggest misconception is that the window cleaning industry is full of unskilled workers and it's an easy job. These guys dedicate their lives to this profession and truly possess a skill that not just everyone can do. It takes a real unique type of person to do what we do, someone who cares about the well-being of everyone on the crew, someone who is passionate, and someone who can think quickly to overcome any obstacles or challenges that may be set forth on any given day. Those that are in this industry know the time and skill needed to do the job right the first time -- without any accidents. Many people think we are renegades with a death wish. Not true. We all want to go home to our families at night.

CT: The biggest misconception to me would be that people think cleaning a window is more of a simple task than an art. The high-rise chair work is more like rock climbing, not just dangling from a rope!

Lucky Escape for Window Washer in Salt Lake City

Window Washer Survives Three Story Fall: Salt Lake City, UT - A window washer harnessed on a high rise building in Salt Lake City fell three stories and survived. The man was able to swing himself and break through a window to stop his fall. After crashing through the window, the man lowered himself to the ground, but he suffered cuts to his head.

Window washer crashes through window when rigging fails: A window washer was injured when his rope chair gave way and he swung 30 feet, crashing into a window. The man was working by himself Thursday afternoon on a building at 370 E. South Temple. He was lowering himself down the five-story building when his rigging failed. He fell half way down the building, swung into and through a window. He was able to lower himself down to the ground. Workers in the area saw what happened and helped the man. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition with cuts to his head. Officials have not released his name or the company for which he works. A 21-year-old woman inside the building, sitting right next to window was also injured. She suffered some minor cuts from the shattered glass. She was treated and released on scene.

Man Who Fell from Scaffolding Gets Special Father's Day: Thirty year old Michael Whiting is recovering from that fall - he says he's happy to be with his family this fathers day.

Tube Service Suspended By Window Cleaners

Tube service is suspended: Swinging up to 12 metres above the floor of Westminster Tube station, here are some of London's most adventurous cleaners in action. The team of abseiling workers will be spending 10 weeks suspended from the ceiling, or clambering high up in the station's superstructure, for one of the capital's hardest hygiene jobs. They will be secured by ropes and harnesses as they clean pipes, polish the sides of escalators and dust off the nets that hang between staircases. Balancing act: the Jeweltone cleaners get to work on the cavernous interiors of Westminster Tube station, where they will work from 1am-5am for 10 weeks. They also clean the other 10 stations on the Jubilee line extension. “It would be dangerous for you or I to attempt it, but the team are all qualified and work to the highest safety standards.” The abseilers work in all 11 stations on the 10-year-old Jubilee line extension, from Westminster to Stratford, because of their awkward design. The team are from Jeweltone, whose previous projects include cleaning the outside of Barclays Bank's 156m-tall Canary Wharf headquarters, and the outside of Canary Wharf station. He added: “Sometimes we get cleaners who want to do abseiling so we send them away for training, or we get people who love abseiling calling us up looking for work and we show them what they need to do.”
Senior technician Brian Titman, 41, started out as a window cleaner but trained in “abseil-cleaning” 21 years ago. It now pays up to £36,000 a year. He said the “extreme” nature of the job kept him feeling young. “I've never been afraid of heights, just falling from great heights,” he said. “A lot of days I go home and my whole body is aching, and in Westminster it gets very hot, so I'm sure I've lost a few pounds.” Mr Titman, from Ipswich, has cleaned numerous tall buildings in the capital including the Gherkin. “Because our job starts at the top of buildings and works down, the aerial views you get over London are absolutely breathtaking,” he said. More pictures of jobs undertaken by this company - click the pictures to enlarge.

Window Cleaning Hero, Car Explosions & the First Sign of Spring

Hero Sussex window cleaner saves girl in Lewes fire drama: A hero window-cleaner saved the life of a teenage girl who was trapped in a burning building and screaming for help. The 18-year-old was stuck in an upstairs bedroom of her home in South Street, Lewes, at 1pm today after a chip pan fire broke out and spread noxious smoke through the house. Watch commander Martin Lusk, from Lewes Fire Station, said: "The first she knew of what was happening was when she heard noises in the house. "She said she thought someone had come in and when she opened the bedroom door to look what was happening she found the house full of smoke." A fire had spread from the chip pan and was raging through the kitchen. The girl, unable to make her way down the stairs, slammed the door, rushed to the window and began calling for help. Mr Luck said: "She was lucky. There was a window cleaner working nearby and he brought his ladders and helped her to climb to safety. "We don't know who he was, he left when we arrived and didn't leave his name." An ambulance was called to help the girl and she was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, to be treated for the effects of smoke inhalation. She was not seriously injured. No-one else was in the house at the time. Three fire crews from Lewes, Brighton and Barcombe spent two hours extinguishing the flames and damping down the building. Mr Lusk said: "We're grateful to whoever the window cleaner was for stepping in to help. It was a good thing he did."

Car Explodes in EastMemphis: Memphis, TN - The Memphis Fire Department and Bomb Squad were called to the scene of a car explosion at 5545 Murray Road near Oakhaven and the Memorial Funeral Home in East Memphis. The incident happened just before noon Thursday, when a gold Nissan Maxima exploded in a parking lot. The owner of the vehicle, a self-employed janitorial worker for nearby offices, was transported to The Med for 1st and 2nd degree burns on her arms, neck and face. Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin stated in a news conference that the incident appears to be an accident. Investigators determined that the woman was unable to start her vehicle and sat inside to smoke a cigarette. The flame from her lighter apparently inginited fumes from numerous cleaning products in her trunk and in the floorboard of her vehicle. Witnesses said the explosion caused a "loud boom" that blew out the vehicle's windshield, back window and sunroof. Memphis Police, ATF and FBI officers deployed a bomb robot and bomb-sniffing dogs to ensure that there were no explosive devices in the area. Area offices were evacuated as a precaution until the scene was declared safe.

A simple story for a window cleaner: At a previous job we used to get the windows professionally cleaned every fortnight. It was done by a large cleaning company and we never really had any issues. They did the job and we paid the bills. One day a young man walks up to the receptionist and asked if we wanted a quote for cleaning the windows. He wasn't overly well dressed or overly well presented. He was reasonably clean and tidy though. Looked like a young man who might be a hard worker and could do with a little luck.He gave a good price and so we accepted (after going through all of the corporate halabaloo!). He turned up every fortnight, cleaned the windows and we paid the bills. As time went on, he started to improve. Had a better car, improved his uniform and I assume was getting lots of other work. He started with a squeegee and a bucket and ended up with a great little business. He had a simple thought, but the most important thing was, he acted on it. Went out there knocked on doors and asked if people were interested in his service. I believe it was Woody Allen who said "Eighty percent of success is showing up".
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A window cleaner was slapped with a parking ticket for parking on double yellow lines while he cleaned the windows of a town centre store at the weekend. Philip Adams runs Brighter Glass, a domestic and commercial window cleaning company, and had parked on double yellows in Cornfield Road on Saturday to wash the windows of Brufords Jewellers. Mr Adams, who lives in Enys Road, said he couldn't park in a loading bay because it would have been dangerous to the public for him to stretch his hoses along the pavement, so he parked on the double yellow lines which were closer. "I was temporarily stopped on double yellow lines while cleaning the windows at Brufords as I have done every Saturday for nearly two years," said Mr Adams."The nearest parking space in a loading bay was about 50 metres away and I have to trail hoses across the pavement which over that distance would cause many potential trip hazards to pedestrians. "I was in the middle of cleaning the windows when a warden came along and asked me how long I would be. "He told me to park in the loading bay and when I told him I couldn't and would only be five minutes, I received an instant parking ticket. "It's not just me that has been hassled by the parking attendants. It's all the window cleaners that I know. "We are all feeling harassed and concerned we can't go about our jobs because of the enforcement." Also here.

Hearing funny, thumping noises, I looked up from my laptop to see a handsome young man dangling outside my 4th floor window. I opened the window, learned this kid’s name is Nathanial, and he works for SunWest Property Maintenance. A little while later, on the other side of the room, another guy appeared, doing those windows. That's the new Four Seasons Hotel & Residences behind him. The guys carry a round, suction cup apparatus with which they attach themselves to the window so they don’t swing all over the place as they’re washing and squeegieing the glass. Surely, this is a much more fun sign of spring to come than setting my clock forward.

And James Stigamire, of Concord, a single dad, sits pondering the jobs he has applied for since he was laid off in August from a good-paying job as an estimator for a general contractor. He holds a clipboard labeled "professional and management," but says he can't let his pride get in the way. "I'm 54 years old. I've worked in a couple of different industries, worked my way up. I thought I could do that kind of thing for the rest of my life," he said. "It's just frustrating. I looked at this job for a window washer. They had a litany of requirements. They can be so selective now. ... There's one I'm looking at, park ranger, cleaning toilets, things like that. It's a significant cut in pay, but it has health benefits. It's a position I could enjoy."

Glass Doctor is ranked No. 186 on the AllBusiness AllStar Franchise list of the top 300 franchise opportunities in the United States. AllBusiness selected Glass Doctor for the list based on its recent growth, financial strength, system size, years in business, years franchising, availability of financing, and brand visibility. This year Glass Doctor entered the Canadian market and expects to add 10 franchises there by the end of the year. As part of The Dwyer Group®, Glass Doctor is in good financial condition, along with its sister brands: Aire Serv® air conditioning and heating (ranked No. 119), Mr. Appliance® (ranked No. 193), Mr. Electric®, Mr. Rooter® (ranked No. 108) and Rainbow® International Restoration and Cleaning (ranked No. 125). Established in 1962 in Seattle, Glass Doctor started franchising in 1977 with a shop in Atlanta. Today there are more than 165 Glass Doctor franchise owners. Financial assistance is available to new franchise owners, especially military veterans through The Dwyer Group VetFran program. The Glass Doctor brand is visible in national advertising and on the Web.

Cinco de Mayo, Pure Water & a Tucker Pole

Marches, margaritas and the Americas way:

The past few days have been a reminder of that, beginning with May Day marches that focused on immigration reform, and wrapping up with Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Immigration has been an American issue since the first Europeans stepped off a boat. But views of it change with circumstances. One of the signs at Thursday's march in Seattle read: "Somos America: America para los Americanos." We are America: America for the Americans. Except the woman carrying the sign meant all the people — in all the Americas. Her husband, Miguel Gudino, was carrying their 14-month-old son, who was born in the United States. "Back in our country, I won't be able to give him a good life," Gudino said. Gudino, who has a green card, said he did farm work in Michoacán, but here he owns his own window-cleaning business and he is buying his first home. "Owning my own house is the best you can do in life," he said. Gudino said he was marching so more people will be able to realize their dreams. He marvels at how the numbers of Latinos have increased since he came to Seattle nine years ago.

Some random videos: First up is Bill from Boston of Tollins Window Cleaning showing us a resin regeneration plant in the WCR palace. And second-up a tucker pole in high-up action in Canada.