Firefighters raced to rescue two window washers trapped on broken scaffolding blowing in the wind on the side of a high-rise building in Manhattan’s Columbus Circle Friday morning.
First responders were called to 25 Columbus Circle around 9:47 a.m. after a 911 call about the window washers trapped on the building’s 78th floor, FDNY’s Deputy Chief Michael Trahan said during a news conference Friday.
The scaffold had broken free from the building and was only hanging on by security lines when first responders arrived, Trahan said.
Hair-raising footage from the ground captured the scaffolding billowing back and forth and spinning around in high-wind conditions.
The billowing scaffolding was smacking into the side of the building and caused a window on the 78th floor to be smashed, sending glass raining onto the street, he said.
“When they got up onto the 78th floor, they saw the window was blown out, glass everywhere,” Trahan said.
Though the workers were in harnesses, they were found not to be attached to security lines, Trahan added.
The street was secured by authorities to protect pedestrians, Trahan said
The scaffolding was then secured with ropes, and the two workers were pulled into the building by FDNY using a “life-saving rope” tied to an object inside, Lieutenant Nick Schneider of Ladder Four, who responded to the incident, said in the press conference.
The two workers were promptly brought inside the building and transferred to Cornell Hospital in stable condition, Trahan said.
Schneider described the gust of air he felt as he went up to the 78th floor and the immediate danger both the workers and FDNY officials were in.
“It was extremely dangerous for, obviously, the occupants of the scaffolding, but initially when we got on scene it was extremely dangerous for members of the FDNY,” Schnieder said.
“We had to be careful for our members. We were operating essentially on the ledge of a 78-story building.
Occupants of an apartment unit were inside when the incident occurred, Schnieder said.“97
As of 12:30 p.m., yellow caution tape still blocked off the street by the corner of 58th street and 8th avenue – puzzling onlookers.
“I knew something was going on because I told myself … all these people looking up can’t be tourists,” a man who lives a block away from the scene said.
“That must have been scary for the people up there,” he said.
