San Francisco Window Washing Rig Secured

Eventually a window washer rappelled down and secured the platform, while firefighters helped pull it up.

Window-washing rig secured to San Francisco high-rise: Suspended on the face of a Financial District high rise, a window washer's rig dangled precariously from One Embarcadero high above San Francisco on Friday morning. The dangling window washing rig's dangerous dilemma developed right in the middle of the morning rush hour in downtown San Francisco, shutting down a major street. The rig was reported hanging unsafely at 7:02 a.m. from the 41st floor of a building at 301 Clay Street. Getting things straightened out had a whole new meaning Friday morning in the Financial District. The window washing platform was finally pulled over onto the top of the building at about 10 a.m., ending a strange morning on Friday the 13th.

It just didn't look right, whether you were down below on Clay and Battery streets or 41 stories up at One Embarcadero Center. A 2,000 pound window washing platform was dangling dangerously from above. "I talked to the guy, actually the engineer who was in charge of it and asked him, 'is this thing in danger of falling?'" Battalion Chief Marty Ross said. "And the look on his face, I could just tell, hey we better get up there."

But there were a lot of frazzled nerves on Friday the 13th.

Firefighters believe a latch was not engaged when workers put it over the side of the building. No one was inside the rig. Below, Battery Street between Clay and Sacramento was blocked off to traffic. Muni officials say buses on the 1-California and 41-Union routes are being rerouted around the scene.
Floors 28, 29, and 30 were in the landing zone if this thing dropped. So those workers were kept out of the building. "Just wait, and hopefully it comes to a good end," 29th floor worker Rita Whitten said.

Eventually a window washer rappelled down and secured the platform, while firefighters helped pull it up. No one hurt. But there were a lot of frazzled nerves on Friday the 13th. "That is a little creepy, a little scary," San Francisco resident Marcus Collazo said. "You've got to think about it, you know, let your mind run wild." The roads and One Embarcadero Center have reopened. Firefighters say they're just happy nothing bad happened. Social media reaction here.

Naked man, dangling scaffolding cause stir downtown (caution: nudity) - There was plenty to talk about near the Embarcadero on Friday. After a window-washing rig lost a cable and hung precariously from the 41st floor of the Embarcadero Center, a man in various states of undress climbed a light post, became an apparent safety threat and refused to come down — for nearly four hours. This post features nudity, so scroll down past this scaffolding picture if you’re OK with that. A police officer, who was likely helping reroute traffic after the scaffolding slipped Friday morning, noticed the shirtless fellow perched on a pole at Drumm and Sacramento streets about 10 a.m. The officer called for back-up, police closed off the street and a tactical team arrived to get the man down.

“That’s normal procedure,” said Officer Wilson Ng. “We didn’t want him to fall on anyone.” Despite hours of coaxing by a crisis negotiator, the man remained on the pole, continued to remove his clothes — until he was naked — and drew a crowd of onlookers. Many of the spectators had just watched the fire department lasso the loose window-washing rig on Embarcadero Center One, which was reported just before 7 a.m. and also prompted police to close streets in the area. The excitement ended at about 1:45 p.m. when an officer, according to police reports, grabbed the man on the pole, took him into custody and, presumably, covered his scaffolding.

Despite hours of coaxing by a crisis negotiator, the man remained on the pole, continued to remove his clothes — until he was naked — and drew a crowd of onlookers.