Philly Window Washers Predict Fall - UK Window Cleaner In Explosion

Steve Cramer, who has been working as a window washer across the street, said the demolition crew left 30 feet of a dividing wall up with no braces and it compromised the integrity of the building. “We’ve been calling it for the past week — it’s going to fall, it’s going to fall,” his co-worker Dan Gillis said.

Rescue workers were digging through rubble Thursday for any additional victims who may have been trapped when a building under demolition collapsed onto a neighboring thrift store, killing six people and injuring 14, including one who was pulled from the debris nearly 13 hours later. Philadelphia workers were using buckets and their bare hands to move bricks and rubble in a search-and-rescue operation with no end immediately in sight. “We’re going to keep searching until we’re absolutely sure no one else is there,” battalion fire chief Charles Lupre said shortly before dawn. He said there were no reports of anyone missing, but there was always the chance that someone was inside who wasn’t reported missing.

It was unclear what role the demolition work might have played in the collapse, but the accident raised questions about how closely the highly visible spot on Market Street, one of Philadelphia’s signature boulevards, was being monitored, particularly amid word of the demolition contractor’s many legal and financial troubles. For weeks, people working nearby had watched with growing concern as a crew took down the vacant four-story building next to a Salvation Army thrift store at the edge of downtown.

A roofer atop another building didn’t think the operation looked safe. A pair of window washers across the street spotted an unbraced, 30-foot section of wall and predicted among themselves the whole building would simply fall down. Steve Cramer, who has been working as a window washer across the street, said the demolition crew left 30 feet of a dividing wall up with no braces and it compromised the integrity of the building. “We’ve been calling it for the past week — it’s going to fall, it’s going to fall,” his co-worker Dan Gillis said.

Mr Jesus' terraced house in Tinsley was completely destroyed by the explosion and subsequent fire. was thrown across the street and burnt when his Sheffield house was destroyed by a suspected gas explosion last week.

‘I was burning alive’: Window cleaner, 36, who lost everything in a gas blast says an angel rescued him from the rubble.

• Agostinho Jesus, 36, was thrown across his Sheffield street in the explosion
• Father-of-one suffered burns to his hands and head but says his survival is 'a miracle'
• Firefighters believe the blast that destroyed his £60,000 home was caused by a gas leak

A window cleaner has told how he was thrown across the street after his house exploded as he left for work. Agostinho Jesus, 36, was injured when a gas explosion ripped through the terraced property, throwing him and the entire front of his house across the street last Wednesday morning. The Portuguese father of one suffered burns to his head and hands, and his entire house in the Sheffield suburb of Tinsley was destroyed.

Mr Jesus said his house exploded when he switched off the lights as he prepared to leave for work.

Mr Jesus, who moved to the UK 16 years ago, said that after he flicked the light switch there was 'a massive bang' and he was thrown six feet away from his house. He said: 'I was basically thrown away from my house along with the front wall. 'I was on the ground surrounded by fire and the first thing I thought I was burning alive.'

Father-of-one Jesus Agostinho suffered burns to his hands and head in the blast that destroyed his home.

He added: 'Obviously I was burning alive but then I felt someone grab me by my arms and they pulled me into the other side of the road and sat me down. 'As I was being lifted all I could see were white clothes but and then when I looked around I couldn't see a soul on the street. 'To me it was angel, he saved me.  I do believe in God and am a very strong Catholic myself - to me I do believe it was someone sent from God to save me, it wasn't my time.'

Mr Jesus' £60,000 mid-terrace house was left a pile of burning rubble after the explosion which left a woman and two children in nearby properties suffering from smoke inhalation.  Residents were evacuated and firefighters set up a 500ft cordon around the scene after the 9am blast. He said: 'Basically the explosion burnt all my face, it burnt all my hair off my head, and my ears and neck are burnt.'

Mr Jesus' £60,000 terraced house, which he owned outright and had lived in for a year, was not insured.

The biggest problem the self-employed window-cleaner faces is the fact that his house, which he owned outright, was not insured. Mr Jesus' work van which was parked outside the house was also destroyed. 'I lost everything, all my belongings, apart from the clothes I was wearing and they were cut off me at the hospital,' he said.

Mr Jesus, left with fiancee Monica Zywicka, 40, has been living with her since his house was blown apart.

'I am really hoping that somebody might come forward and try to help, I'm not the kind of person that like to ask for anything but my whole life was in that house.' He is now living with his fiancee, Miss Zywicka, and she has bought him clothes. The mid-terrace property in Sheffield was destroyed in the blast and the two adjoining houses badly damaged. Police say they have not yet ruled out criminal activity.

Charity Scarf Makes Window Cleaner A Winner

Lee Appleby who won the Neurocare November Scarf Competition 2011

Woolly thinking - a charity winner: Some people took their scarf out to the Peak District; some took it on holiday to destinations like Gibraltar and Spain; and one couple even took it to Euro Disney where they snapped Mickey Mouse wearing it. But the winner of a city-wide charity competition to see who could photo themselves donning this distinctive lime and purple neckwear in the most unusual place took it nowhere so exotic.

Lee Appleby simply took it to work. “I’m a window cleaner,” says the 42-year-old of High Street, Mosborough. “I was doing the ninth floor of The Balance building in Trippet Lane, and I thought the view from up there, with me about to abseil down, would take some beating.” It did. The father-of-three was this week crowned the champion of the inaugural Sheffield Neurocare November scarf competition.

He beat off rival entrants including Mary Gregory who snapped a series of Disney characters in the winter warmer; Katie Goulding who pictured her horse wearing it; and Lisa Ellen-Riley who modelled it as a shawl and paired it with purple eyeshadow. But while the victory was good news for Lee – he won a digital camera and, more importantly, gets his mug in The Diary – it was perhaps even better news for Sheffield Neurocare itself. For the contest has seen more than 3,000 scarves sold across the city raising both money and unprecedented awareness for the Lydgate Lane, Crookes, charity.

“It’s really caught people’s imagination,” says fundraiser Emma Douglas. “I’ll be wearing the scarf in town and see someone else in one and you sort of do a little nod and touch the scarf – it’s like being in a secret club. Only it’s not a secret, obviously. “Some people have come up to me and asked what football team it represents, and then you explain it’s to raise money for the Neurosciences department at the Royal Hallamshire, and they’re really impressed, and often want to buy one too. In fact, I’ve sold quite a few that way so now I keep a dozen in my car. You only have to donate £1.”

And, although the photo competition has now finished, it was so popular she says plans are already afoot to make it an annual event. “It would be great if it became a bit of a Sheffield institution,” says Emma, who lives in Meersbrook. “We had a few dozen photos submitted this year but we reckon we could easily get more with a bit more promotion and word of mouth next year. “And some of those entrants were amazing. To see Mickey Mouse wearing one was great, although we thought Lee’s was perfect. We’re a Sheffield charity and his picture seemed to capture the essence of the city.” “Did it?” says Lee, who learned of the charity’s work after a friend suffered a brain tumor. “Fancy that. I was only wearing it in the first place because it’s cold up there. It’s lovely to have won, though.”

Window Cleaning News

University of Sheffield get new window cleaners: With effect from 1st September 2011, the Universities window cleaning service provision for all Buildings on Campus will lie within the Campus Services Department. Following the Universities tendering process I am happy to announce that a cleaning company, namely Cinderella Ltd were successful in securing the contract. Cinderella Ltd was founded in 1993 and are the current holders of similar contracts with a variety of Universities, including some of those in the Russell Group. The agreed window cleaning schedule allows each internal window to be cleaned a minimum of once a year. External windows be cleaned twice a year with certain entrances and doors cleaned on a monthly basis. There is an adhoc provision whereas an extra clean can be arranged in the event of high profile occasions such as Graduation and Open Days. The cleaning methods available from Cinderella Ltd range greatly and are dictated by building/department use. The most commonly used will be reach and wash, the use of hydraulic platforms, abseiling and cradles along with traditional methods. This schedule is subject to change and following feedback and suggestions from staff, can be tailored to each building/department or to suit the needs of the business.

Cleaning company took franchise fees illegally, SJC rules: The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday that Coverall North America Inc. illegally collected franchise fees from a worker, clearing the way for hundreds of workers involved in a class-action lawsuit against the cleaning company to be awarded millions of dollars in damages. The ruling could have a significant impact on similar cases pending against five other cleaning companies in the state. The decision follows a US District Court of Massachusetts ruling in March of 2010 that found that Coverall had misclassified the workers, the majority of them immigrants, charging them thousands of dollars apiece in franchise fees to establish their own cleaning companies, but treating them like regular employees.

“It’s a perverse system in which the workers are paying to do the work,’’ said lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan, who is representing the Coverall workers and hundreds of others suing Jani-King International Inc., Jan-Pro Franchising International Inc., System4 Commercial Cleaning, CleanNet USA, and Westborough-based All Pro Cleaning Systems. She is also involved in cases against cleaning companies in California and Pennsylvania.

The SJC ruling could lead those cleaning companies, which use the same franchising model Coverall does, to settle their cases, leave the state, or change the way they operate, Liss-Riordan said. “The commercial cleaning industry has been plagued by companies such as Coverall that make their money by profiting off of their own workers,’’ Liss-Riordan said. “The ruling will have huge ramifications on the commercial cleaning industry, as well as the trucking industry, adult entertainment industry, and other industries that exploit their workers by misclassifying them as independent contractors.’’

What is your necessary extravagance? Maybe you have a professional house cleaner, gardener or window-washer. Maybe you spend $4 a day on a cup of coffee from your favorite java joint. Or maybe you buy designer clothes, Sex-in-the-City caliber shoes or $100 jars of night-cream. Maybe you can afford these luxuries–or maybe not. But most of us splurge on our personal must-haves, no? Even if we’re on budget. And we should. We’re moms after all. Most of us put our families first and ourselves last. So scrimping elsewhere to allow for some personal pampering shows we’re taking care of ourselves, which makes us better moms.

Woman is saved from blazing room: Two men dramatically rescued a woman from a burning home in Scarborough. Ryan Burns, 27, and Jim Murphy, 58, both leapt into action after they saw smoke pouring out of a top-floor window in Northstead Flats, Long Walk, Northstead. They had to kick down a door. Mr Burns, who lives nearby, went to get a set of ladders, which he uses for his window cleaning job, and he and Mr Murphy climbed through an open window adjacent to the burning flat. After battling their way through smoke, they found the resident. Mr Burns said: “After we kicked the door down, we then found the woman.” The two men then assisted fire officers in carrying the woman to safety, before officers extinguished the fire.

Life in the tank - Jane Price -- armed with cucumbers, shrimp, peas and a toilet brush -- jumps in with both feet. The Mansfield woman has been volunteering at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium for 20 years, diving among sharks and rays to feed the animals and clean the glass at Discovery Reef. "I became certified in scuba diving 21 years ago specifically so I could dive at the zoo," Price said. "When Discovery Reef opened, I became one of the senior divers and helped train the others." Price dives into the 100,000-gallon saltwater tank to swim with 250 fish representing 23 species. The tank includes two white tip sharks, a nurse shark and a woebegone carpet shark.

By his own admission, artist Anthony Couri isn't an easy man to frighten. Once he took a job washing windows on skyscrapers just because he was afraid of heights. He became so good at his job that his boss offered him promotion. He used to be afraid of death, but decided to explore his feelings by collecting bleached bones he found out in the Colorado wilderness. Couri later assembled those bones into a three dimensional piece of art now on exhibit at Art Show on Jefferson, just across the street from the Civic Center. "One of my fears as a child was death, and I really conquered that fear," Couri said. "To many people it's shocking - that it's morbid. No, everyone dies. There are bones underneath, that's what carries us around. Just the dichotomy of life and death. I made the dead dance again in a different form. I created a new animal. He's alive again. It's not dead any more. It's not forbidden."

9/11- beyond words: The 9/11 attacks may be impossible to quantify, but key words and figures help to explain their magnitude. 45 Feature films that were postponed or re-edited after the attacks. A Jackie Chan movie called Nosebleed, about a window-washer at the World Trade Centre who foils a terrorist plot, was cancelled. "The World Trade Centre is a living symbol of man's dedication to world peace... a representation of man's belief in humanity, his need for individual dignity, his beliefs in the cooperation of men and, through cooperation, his ability to find greatness." Minoru Yamasaki, architect of the twin towers, in a speech at the opening ceremony for the World Trade Centre in 1973.

Robert Stewart, who has turned Crown evidence against the alleged Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) commander and 13 other men facing paramilitary-linked charges, said Haddock directed the plan to kill Ulster Defence Association (UDA) boss Tommy English 11 years ago. “Haddock – he was running the whole thing,” Stewart told Belfast Crown Court. English, 40, was gunned down in his house in front of his wife and three young children just after 6pm on Halloween night in 2000 during a bloody feud between the UDA and UVF.The 14 face a litany of paramilitary charges, with most facing counts linked to the murder of English, in one of the largest trials in the North in decades. They all deny the charges. Stewart and his brother David Ian Stewart have both turned state’s evidence. The two window cleaners pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the murder and membership of the UVF and received a reduced sentence in return for their co-operation with the authorities in the case against the 14 accused.

More FISH awards - does everyone get one? Steve and Renee Brown, owners of Fish Window Cleaning, of Kalamazoo, received the Rising Star Award at the 11th annual Fish Window Cleaning Convention held July 28-30 in St. Louis. The award was given in recognition of the franchise’s outstanding sales, production, management and good neighbor relations with other franchisees during 2010. Also, the Browns’ franchise was one of seven franchises named to the Pinnacle Club for leading the organization in sales growth. The business has been in operation since September 2009.

For many, job loss led to reinvention: Greg Fletcher, a semiconductor technician/engineer for nearly 25 years, lost his job with Qimonda in eastern Henrico when the chipmaker went bankrupt and closed in 2009. "I tried for two years to find another job in my field with no luck," said Fletcher, 47. His father retired as an engineer, and Fletcher said he assumed he would do the same. Fletcher, father of four children, recently opened a window-cleaning franchise called Window Genie. "This has been a complete job and career change not only for me, but also my family. I went from working in clean-room environments … and working on high-tech equipment to climbing ladders and getting downright dirty." The experience has been emotionally, physically and financially draining, he said. "You learn quickly what things you can live without. "I try to keep a positive outlook and service my customers as I would want to be treated. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The local owner of a national window cleaning company was awarded top seller during the 11th annual Fish Window Cleaning Convention. Jon Mittleman, owner of Fish Window Cleaning in Alpharetta received the top sales award and the Navigator Award in St. Louis, Mo., where the company is based. Mittleman added about 500 new customers during 2010. The Navigator Award was presented to Mittleman for his work with prospective new franchisees. Pictured: Jon Mittleman, owner of Fish Window Cleaning in Alpharetta.

Window Genie Window Cleaning Franchise Comes to Savannah, Georgia: Window Genie®, a national franchisor of window cleaning and other home services, has granted a new franchise territory to Benjamin Francis, who runs his franchise from his home office in Savannah, Georgia. Francis’ franchise services Savannah, Wilmington Island, Whitemarsh Island, Tybee Island, Skidaway Island, Isle of Hope, Thunderbolt, and Sandfly, Georgia, and surrounding areas. Francis, originally from the South Coast of England, is a yacht captain and engineer by trade, and spent 10 years at sea before moving to America a year and a half ago. He “met a girl from Georgia” on his travels whom he married, and moved to Savannah, Georgia. When he started looking for a job in the States, he thought it would be pretty difficult with no college degree to find a job at which he could move up the ladder. He considered starting a business, but admitted, “I was a pretty good candidate to becoming a statistic doing it on my own, so a franchise was a good middle ground.” He researched his options and decided that a Window Genie franchise would be the ideal way to reach his goal of being his own boss. “The potential is there. There is no glass ceiling. I become master of my own destiny.”

Villagers rally round popular character Skip: A community is rallying around one of its much-loved elderly residents to help him get better. The village of Kelvedon has seen people come and go but Skip the town crier, lollipop man, Scout leader, window cleaner, chorister, caretaker and proud holder of an MBE for his community work, has lived there for all 80 years of his life. Now the pensioner, who lives by himself and is in desperate need of a hip replacement, has to put his feet up while he waits for the operation. Just last month he fell out of bed and it took him 45 minutes to haul himself into the lounge to call his doctor, who rushed round at 3am to help him. Skip, whose real name is John Papworth, said: "I was quite scared. I just lay there until someone came. Those ten minutes felt like an hour."