High drama, risky rescue atop tower

[efdcapt115 1,511]

A heroic and difficult rescue effort saved two workers who fell inside a Hollywood water tower after their scaffolding collapsed.

BY JULIE BROWN, JAMES BURNETT AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH

JBROWN@MIAMIHERALD.COM

As Lt. Brian White lowered himself into a dark, tight hole, inching ever closer to two men trapped inside a 160-foot water tower, the final details of their rescue scenario fell into place.

His voice echoed through the hollow chamber as he called out to the injured men, 45 feet below.

``It really was our worst nightmare,'' said White, a member of Hollywood's Fire-Rescue unit, referring to all the challenges rescuers faced during the five-hour rescue:

Possibly dangerous chemical fumes.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/08/1864570/high-drama-risky-rescue-atop-tower.html#ixzz11t1RJYcu

[antiquefirelt 994]

Lucky, this is clearly a case where a standby confined space rescue team should have been in place, on top of fall protection and a manned retrieval system. Two guys operating in an elevated confined space with no entry supervisor or system to call for help other than a cellphone is crazy, though much cheaper I guess.

Edited October 9, 2010 by antiquefirelt

[Bnechis 3,961]

Lucky, this is clearly a case where a standby confined space rescue team should have been in place, on top of fall protection and a manned retrieval system. Two guys operating in an elevated confined space with no entry supervisor or system to call for help other than a cellphone is crazy, though much cheaper I guess.

Particularly, since this type of confined space team is very rare, having it in place is particularly important. Most confined space resuce teams have never even climbed a water tower. the 1st couple times are interesting to say the least.

[antiquefirelt 994]

Particularly, since this type of confined space team is very rare, having it in place is particularly important. Most confined space resuce teams have never even climbed a water tower. the 1st couple times are interesting to say the least.

While our team has conducted a few high rappels into patients in confined spaces, none presented nearly the difficulty of getting gear and people into place such as this.

When we work employ our team as the standby crew in one of our larger industrial complexes, the crew always does a full recon first thing and works up the plan, reporting to the duty officer any special needs. Given the plethora of problems that can arise preplanning and pre-positioning to be effective is pretty mush the only way to insure a safe outcome. Incidents like this water tower show how well versed a team must be, and how much luck was with the workers that day.

[Bnechis 3,961]

When we work employ our team as the standby crew in one of our larger industrial complexes, the crew always does a full recon first thing and works up the plan, reporting to the duty officer any special needs.... Incidents like this water tower show how well versed a team must be, and how much luck was with the workers that day.

Well said. Some of issues in the rescue plan need to include:

Type of water tower and access (both to the base & to the top):

The 3 most common are:

1) External ladder (to the platform and/or top)

2) Internal ladder (to the top)

3) Internal ladder (to the top) and an exterior ladder (from the top down to an external platform)

Almost all have a seperate hatch on top that leads to the water storage tank. Many have a ladder, but not all.

Newer (or renovated tanks) often have built in fall protection with the ladder. One must understand how it works and if you need to bring your own fall protection device to attach to the cable or track.

The ladders (internal or external) are either vertical or almost vertical and if you have never climbed at 50' - 200' vertical ladder you are in for a big upper body workout. On FD ladders, you use mostly your legs. On vertical ladders its your arms and back (holding on). On external ladders after climbing to within 30 feet of the platform the ladder often tilts backward to about 95-100 degrees.

Also of great concern on external ladders is the platform opening at the top of the ladder is often only 16-18" wide and with your harness you have to turn 90 degrees while hanging on to slide thru. Also often it is common to find a radio antenna at this opening, making it even harder to get onto the platform.

Generally it is best to send your strongest climber up 1st and have him/her have a drop bag to pull up additional gear. It helps to cut the climbing distance with a tower ladder (if it can be positioned). Anyone climbing the tower must have fall protection system (either built in or FD provided). Securing oneself on the tower is sometimes very difficult and you should never never never hook in to previous FD protection that was left on the tower (very common find).

Once on top you may be face with a "confined space rescue" inside the tank. This requires the same equipment (Supplied air, detectors, tripods, etc.) and it will be very difficult to get it up top. Also setting up a tripod on top requires securing it, which is very involved. Some tank owners have welded anchor points up top, otherwise it may be very rigging intense. THe other major issue is once a victim is removed from the tank, you still need to get them 50' - 200' feet to the ground (and if the rigging is not set up for that, many try using the tripod which can flip over from the side loading.

Hopefully, this small primer will open the eyes of those who think they are ready to respond as well as those that have a tank in their district and need to preplan what might be needed.

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(Echoing the words of Captain Nechis)

Working together, a technical rescue team hauled their own equipment up the 160-foot-high tower, built their own scaffolding on the top, and set up a ventilation system to get rid of the fumes and bring a fresh breeze into the bowl.

Then the rescuers used a pulley system to lift the two men from the inside of the bowl and lower them 16 stories to safety.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/hollywood/fl-hollywood-accident-folo-20101010,0,6243191.story