2 Construction Workers Rescued By Boston Firefighters After Fall
BOSTON (CBS) -- Two construction workers who were injured in a fall were brought down from a building by firefighters using ladders Wednesday afternoon.
Firefighters carried out a delicate balancing act as they rescued the two injured construction workers.
"There was no easy or simple way to bring them through the building," said Boston Fire Dep. Chief Michael Ruggere.
The men fell about 20 feet from the fifth floor to the third when scaffolding and a temporary stairway let go. They were working on the Harvard Science and Engineering complex on Western Ave.
With no safe way to bring the injured men through the building - firefighters called in their technical rescue team.
"Obviously the patient it's very precarious for him, I am sure they don't like the feeling being helpless in a bucket or coming down in a basket," Ruggere said.
Each man was strapped on a long board, and using a ladder truck, firefighters carefully lowered them toward the ground.
"The critical handoff is at the bottom when they're down at the ground and we have to use ladders to climb up and bring the basket to the ground level," Ruggere said.
It was a labor intensive operation they train for and in this case was successful. The workers' injuries are not considered serious or critical. The chief describes them as pretty banged up.
Federal safety investigators are looking into what went wrong.
