Boston Window washers rescued from 37th floor

Window washers rescued from 37th floor of Boston skyscraper: Glancing out the window of her 40th floor office, it took a moment for Gemma Hyde to realize something was wrong. Window washers are always strapped to the buildings that surround her One Post Office Place, and the scaffolding she could see strapped to 53 State St. seemed no different. “Then I realized one side was dangling,” said Hyde, an associate at Clough Capital Partners LP. “I called to a coworker and said ‘Oh my God, what should we do?’” The employees that gathered frantically at the windows saw a platform hanging, lopsided, with two men hanging on motionless. They were about to call 911 when they saw fire trucks pull up and emergency workers rush into the building, she said.



They watched, horrified, as one man clung to the ropes of the the tilted platform, the other appearing to grip the rails between the plate glass windows. “They weren’t moving at all, they were completely still for 20 minutes,” said Hyde, who watched the scene unfold with a pair of binoculars kept in the office. “We could see they were harnessed in, but it looked like they were both clinging on,” she said.
When firefighters reached the 37th floor, where the men had been stranded after the platform somehow shifted, they shattered a window at each end of the platform, pulling the workers in one at a time. “You could see them smash the glass and shards of glass just falling,” she said. “Then they pulled one man in and you could see his little boots going through the window.” Shaking, Hyde snapped several pictures before both men were pulled to safety. “We kept looking away but we couldn’t stop watching,” she said. “Then we all breathed a sigh of relief.” Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department, said firefighters rescued the workers shortly before 10 a.m. by breaking a couple of windows in the 40-story building.
Authorities kept pedestrians away from the area to protect them from any falling glass. One the workers was transported to a hospital for evaluation. The other refused medical care. MacDonald said neither was seriously injured. Hyde said employees of the financial firm, which is about a block away from the building the washers were on, have never even seen a helicopter land on one of the landing pads around the building. “For three years, I’ve never seen anything,” she said. “But it's been an exciting morning.”

Two window washers spent 20 minutes clinging to a dangling platform 37 stories above State Street this morning before firefighters smashed windows and pulled the men to safety, according to fire officials and witnesses. Glass rained down on the street below. The rigging hanging off the glass high rise failed at about 9:15 a.m. and caused one end of the metal walkway to drop some 20 feet, leaving the platform slanted at a precarious 45 degree angle. Held aloft by their safety harnesses, the window washers gripped the scaffolding, "banging on the window" at office workers inside, according to David Suprenant, a contractor working on the 38th floor. "They were yelling for someone to call 911," said Suprenant, recounting what he was told by an office worker a floor below.
Four Boston firefighters rushed up to the 37th floor in an elevator and used blunt metal tools to break two windows. Glass rained down on the street below as firefighters yelled for passersby to take cover. People scattered on the narrow streets to avoid the debris. On the 37th floor the firefighters fed ropes out the broken windows to secure the two window washers. It took five minutes to pull the first man to safety inside the building, and seven minutes to save the second. To watch a reader submitted video of the rescue, click here. It "seemed like a week," said Lieutenant John Soares, one of the firefighters on the 37th floor. "They were shaken and rightfully so. They were thankful and grateful. They just wanted to get off the scaffolding as soon as they could."
One of the men was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. The other man did not suffer serious injuries. The men work for Harvard Maintenance Inc., a national company that services office buildings. The rescue created a dramatic scene in the Financial District as firefighters cordoned off the building at 53 State St.
"Everybody in our office ran to the windows to look," said Brett Jackson, who was working on the ninth floor of the building across the street and snapped a photograph with his cellphone. "We could hear glass hitting the side of the building," said Mark Carey, 22, who was working four floors below 53 State St. at a communications firm. Jose Diaz, 21, watched from the nearby Courier building. “I saw the two guys hanging out there, I’m glad they were rescued,” Diaz said. “I wouldn’t be up there if it were me.”
The two window washers had been working on the Exchange Place side of the building when their rigging somehow failed, according to Melissa Coley, spokeswoman for building owner Brookfield Properties Inc. "We are glad everybody is OK,'' Coley said. Boston Deputy Fire Chief Robert Calobrisi said the workers were in “great danger of falling out.” “It’s a perilous task," Calobrisi said, "especially when you are up that high, but technical rescues are part of ongoing training."
Two workplace safety inspectors from the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration responded to the scene to investigate, said spokesman Ted Fitzgerald. According to the safety administration's listing of workplace safety investigations, Harvard Maintenance has only been the subject of two inquiries since 2004, one in Manhattan and one in Minnesota. Details were not immediately available.

BOSTON — Two window washers clinging to a dangling platform 37 stories up on a downtown Boston building were rescued by firefighters Wednesday. Firefighters broke a couple of windows on the 40-story building to get to the workers, who were stranded on the platform for about 20 minutes. Their hanging scaffolding malfunctioned and one side of the basket dropped, Boston Fire Department Deputy Chief Robert Calobrisi said. Authorities secured the area in Boston's financial district from pedestrians while glass fell from the building near the end of the busy morning commute. "It's always a dangerous rescue when you're up that high," Calobrisi said. The platform somehow shifted downward on one side while the workers, whose names have not been released, were cleaning windows on the 37th floor, Calobrisi said. They were trapped on the platform until firefighters arrived. "He was shaken up and rightfully so," Lt. John Soares said of one of the window washers. "It's 37 floors. It's a beautiful view from there, but I don't know if I wanted to do it like that." David Surprenant, a private contractor who works on the 38th floor, said the workers could be heard banging on the window and screaming for someone to call 911.
"They were panicking," Surprenant said. Meanwhile, a crowd of curious businessmen and passers-by gathered below, craning to get a better view of the morning's commotion. One onlooker, 38-year-old Ronnie Lees, snapped a photo of the crooked scaffolding on his cell phone as his children stared at the glass building. "Where's Spiderman when you need him?" Lees asked. One of the workers was transported to a hospital for minor injuries, and the other refused medical care, officials said. Neither was seriously hurt. Melissa Coley, spokeswoman for building owner, Brookfield Properties, Inc., said the men worked for Harvard Maintenance Inc., a national company that services office buildings. Investigators were still trying to determine if a cable snapped, she said. A spokeswoman for Harvard Maintenance Inc. did not immediately return phone calls. Fire officials were waiting for a scaffolding engineer to stabilize the platform.

Las Vegas Window Cleaner Rescue

Window washers rescued from Encore amid high winds: Two men washing windows at the Encore were rescued around 9:15 a.m. today after the scaffolding they were working on was tossed by wind. They were working outside the 15th floor on the south side of the building when high winds caused a cable on their equipment to break, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Scott Allison said. Gusts pushed the men as far as 40 feet away from the side of the hotel-casino, Allison said. Several windows were broken during the incident and both men suffered minor cuts, he said. The men, who were not identified, were strapped into a harness on the scaffolding, Allison said. One of the men was transported to a local hospital, but Allison said his injuries were not life threatening. Allison said no injuries were reported to those inside the rooms along the 15th floor. Wind gusts reached 45 mph this morning at McCarran International Airport and a wind advisory was issued for Clark County until 10 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Las Vegas.

Two window washers have been rescued with minor injuries after a cable snapped during high winds, slamming their platform into the glass face of a Las Vegas Strip casino. Clark County fire spokesman Scott Allison says rescuers broke out a 15th-floor window of the 48-story Encore tower to reach the men and pull them inside shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday. Allison says one of the men is hospitalized. The other was treated at the scene for cuts and bruises. Allison says windows were broken and glass showered the pool area when winds blew the platform against the tower. But he and a Wynn Resorts spokeswoman say no other injuries were reported. The National Weather Service says winds were gusting to 44 mph at the time.

Window Cleaning News Round-Up

New advances in medical treatment have saved the life of Froxfield window cleaner Michael Dunne, who was told four years ago that he was dying of cancer. But now the father-of-two and grandfather has been able to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant from a brother thanks to newly developed techniques. He owes his life, he said, to the generosity of his older brother Patrick from Swindon who readily agreed to provide bone marrow when tests showed a perfect match. Mr Dunne's wife, Joyce, has showed her thanks to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford by taking part in an abseil from the top of the 100ft high seven-storey building, raising more than £505 for a new cancer unit.

NYC window cleaners ratify contract:
NEW YORK - The union representing window cleaners for some 500 commercial office buildings in New York City has ratified a four-year contract. The contract was reached Tuesday between the SEIU Local 32BJ and the Realty Advisory Board. The terms of the contract call for a wage hike, an increase in scaffold pay and improved pension benefits.

Spectacular rescue saves highrise workers. Firefighters pluck workers from 49th floor. It was just another day at the office. The journeymen employees of Alberta Glass had been caulking the windows on the 49th floor of the east tower at 855 2 St. S.W. when the swing stage they were using malfunctioned, leaving them precariously perched about 48 storeys up. Fire crews rushed to the scene just before noon and the department's high-angle rescue team went to the roof to extract the dangling duo. Firefighter Grant Rinas said one team member was lowered about six metres down from the 52-storey roof to the scaffolding to help bring the two workers to safety. "It was relatively easy access and we could talk verbally to them from the roof," he said. "They were safe-tied to the platform and it wasn't going to go anywhere." The two workers were lifted individually in harnesses to the roof and were not injured in the incident. The rescue took about 40 minutes. George Kennedy, owner of Alberta Glass, said the two men, both in their 20s, were in good spirits and got to go home early. "It was just one of those unforeseen things," he said.
Kennedy said it appears a gear may have malfunctioned on the scaffolding, locking it in place, but with four heavy-duty cables suspending it, the workers were never in serious danger.

A new window cleaning related DVD: Features Chinese Revenge Drama Worthy of Jerry Springer. Ping Guo (Bingbing Fan) and An Kun (Dawei Tong), a young couple from the sticks, moved to Beijing in search of a higher standard of living. Thusfar, however, life in the big city has been a bit of a bust, since the only work she could find was in a sleazy massage parlor, and he had to settle for a dangerous job as a skyscraper window-washer. The two made do until the fateful day her rich boss (Tony Leung Ka Fai) decided to force himself on her. Wouldn't you know it, but An Kun just happened to be squeejeeing the plate glass of the room as Liu pounced on his wife, and he had to watch helplessly while dangling outside on the scaffolding. This is the intriguing, incestuous scenario which unfolds in Lost in Beijing, as messy a dysfunctional relationship drama as you could hope to witness on screen.

Popular goalkeeper Paul Bastock, "Bazza" is set to remain with St Albans City next season. Despite rejoining the Blue Square South club with just a few months left until the end of the season, the window cleaner won the fans' player of the year award at Clarence Park. 'Bazza' has seemingly saved the Saints from relegation single-handedly and is said to be enjoying his time with the club. He had been keen to sign for Tommy Taylor earlier in the season, but Rushden & Diamonds manager Gary Hill prevented the move.

Mr Martin (pictured), a window cleaner, was found dead in the front garden of a house in Rutter Gardens near to his Ravensbury Grove home on January 27. A 37-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of a Mitcham dad-of-three. Gary Andrew Kelly of Rutter Gardens, Mitcham, appeared before the Old Bailey this afternoon. Kelly was charged in January with the murder of 40-year-old David Martin. The 37-year-old was remanded in custody before his trial which is due to start on November 24.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A freak accident on the east side. A construction worker was struck by falling debris outside 335 Madison avenue. The worker was hit by an electric cord that plunged 30 feet. Officials believe the worker was trying to move a window washing scaffold when the power cord fell to the ground--hitting him on the head. He suffered a head injury.

Seattle doorknocker scam: Beware of a “window washer” casing the neighborhood. We just had a fellow come to the door and knock very lightly. Since both of our cars were in the garage, it surely looked like no one was home. He lied about doing the neighbor’s house earlier. 40ish, scruffy beard, Caucasian, white F150 truck with light brown trim, canopy with frame and bike rack. He got away before we could get more info. Our neighborhood has had several break-ins in recent months. We reported it to 911.