July 10--A construction worker dangling 11 stories above the street on a section of broken scaffolding at a Sarasota high-rise was rescued Monday by firefighters.
WFLA reports that the man, who doing stucco work on the building's facade, became trapped when a motor on one side of the scaffolding malfunctioned and would not turn off. The man is reported to have calmly waited around 90 minutes for emergency crews to arrive and set the stage for the rescue.
"We were in contact with the person on the scaffolding the entire time. He was uninjured, so we were telling him we were bringing resources in to tie to the top of the building making the determination to the best course of action," said Sarasota County Fire Chief Michael Regnier.
Regnier said figuring out how to rescue the man became an issue because the windows of the building are hurricane resistant and would have taken a good deal of time to remove.
"We made the determination through the company who is responsible for the building and myself to lower the person down to the ground, which was the safest alternative," said Regnier.
The worker was uninjured and walked away from the ordeal.
It was the second such rescue in Sarasota in a month after rescue crews rappelled down the side of a building on June 14 and pulled a man to the roof when he became trapped on a piece of broken scaffolding.
