Two workers have been rescued after getting stranded on scaffolding that was hanging off of a New York City’s high-rise building’s 78th floor.
The New York City Fire Department said in a press conference that they received a report of workers in need of help just before 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 28, in the Columbus Circle area.
When firefighters got to the scene, they found the scaffolding “wasn’t attached” and had been “swinging around and smacking into the building,” raining glass “all over the street,” FDNY Deputy Chief Michael Trahan said.
Trahan noted that firefighters quickly sprung into action and cleared the sidewalk to prevent pedestrians from possibly getting hit by the glass. He said they then worked to secure the scaffolding, which had been hanging off of the 78th floor of the building and had busted through the glass window on the floor.
“I could feel a gust of air,” recalled Lt. Nick Schneider with Ladder 4, who responded to the call. “I knew that the window had been taken at that point. [We] came into the room and they were swinging back and forth and the scaffolding was twisting.”
Schneider said they “tied off the right side of the scaffolding” with ropes in order to secure it. Firefighters had advised the workers to “sit down” on the scaffolding as they attempted their rescue and reeled them in back to the building.
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While the workers had been wearing “harnesses,” the scaffolding that they were on had originally not been “secured with safety lines,” which led to the “extremely dangerous” situation,” Schneider said.
“It was extremely dangerous obviously for the occupants of the scaffolding, but initially when we got on scene it was extremely dangerous for the members of the FDNY,” he explained.
“There was broken glass everywhere. [There] was a high wind factor blowing into the building. There was glass pretty much raining all over the sidewalk when we pulled up,” he continued. “But also we had to be careful for our members that we’re operating essentially on the ledge of a 78 story building. So it was very difficult for us.”
Videos taken by bystanders captured footage of the scaffolding swinging haphazardly back and forth from the building. Another angle showed the scaffolding was a few floors away from the top of the high-rise building.
Schneider said that he had no idea why the scaffolding was “spinning” in that way, but noted that it had been “extremely windy” that day.
It was unclear whether the workers had been window washers or sent up to do maintenance on the building, according to News 12 Long Island. Once the two workers were brought safely back into the building, they were treated by EMS and transported to nearby hospitals in “stable condition,” Trahan said.
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