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D.C. firefighters perform a high-tower rescue in the cold and wind
Public Safety
D.C. firefighters perform a high-tower rescue in the cold and wind
By Clarence Williams
March 6 at 8:27 PM
D.C. firefighters rescued a worker who was stranded more than 100 feet in the air while working on a D.C. government telecommunications tower in Northwest Washington on Wednesday afternoon.
A pair of contractors had been working for several hours on a tower behind the 4th District Police station at 6001 Georgia Ave. about 10 a.m., fire officials said. But just after 1 p.m., the contractor called his co-worker and said he was cold, tired and lacked the strength to safely climb down the tower.
Fire officials responded about 1:20 p.m. and found him 110 feet to 120 feet in the air, said Battalion Fire Chief Danny McCoy. He described the weather conditions at that height in two words: “windy, cold.” ... “He couldn’t move. His partner called and said he’s stuck, he can’t go up, he can’t go down,” McCoy said.
The Hughes Memorial Tower serves multiple city agencies and contains radio and cellphone communications equipment, said Wanda Gattison, a spokeswoman for the Office of Unified Communications. The workers were private contractors but it was not immediately clear what work was being done Wednesday, officials said.
....
A D.C. firefighter secures a safety rope to a worker, who was standed more than 100 feet in the air on a tower Wednesday. (D.C. Fire and EMS Department)
....
Clarence Williams is the night reporter for The Washington Post on the "night cops" beat, where he has spent nearly two decades chasing breaking news and writing in-depth, issues-based features about police, fire and rescue, and other public safety issues in and around Washington. Follow https://twitter.com/nu1wcf
D.C. firefighters perform a high-tower rescue in the cold and wind
By Clarence Williams
March 6 at 8:27 PM
D.C. firefighters rescued a worker who was stranded more than 100 feet in the air while working on a D.C. government telecommunications tower in Northwest Washington on Wednesday afternoon.
A pair of contractors had been working for several hours on a tower behind the 4th District Police station at 6001 Georgia Ave. about 10 a.m., fire officials said. But just after 1 p.m., the contractor called his co-worker and said he was cold, tired and lacked the strength to safely climb down the tower.
Fire officials responded about 1:20 p.m. and found him 110 feet to 120 feet in the air, said Battalion Fire Chief Danny McCoy. He described the weather conditions at that height in two words: “windy, cold.” ... “He couldn’t move. His partner called and said he’s stuck, he can’t go up, he can’t go down,” McCoy said.
The Hughes Memorial Tower serves multiple city agencies and contains radio and cellphone communications equipment, said Wanda Gattison, a spokeswoman for the Office of Unified Communications. The workers were private contractors but it was not immediately clear what work was being done Wednesday, officials said.
....
A D.C. firefighter secures a safety rope to a worker, who was standed more than 100 feet in the air on a tower Wednesday. (D.C. Fire and EMS Department)
....
Clarence Williams is the night reporter for The Washington Post on the "night cops" beat, where he has spent nearly two decades chasing breaking news and writing in-depth, issues-based features about police, fire and rescue, and other public safety issues in and around Washington. Follow https://twitter.com/nu1wcf
Comment:
TooManyPeople 1 hour ago
Thank goodness for the RESCUE RESPONDERS! They were already cold-fatigued from training that very day!
Thank goodness for the RESCUE RESPONDERS! They were already cold-fatigued from training that very day!
Even before they rescued a worker 120 feet up a radio tower, these members of #DCsBravest Special Operations Division had already today braved bitter cold and wind under the Memorial Bridge to practice their rope rescue techniques. We train like we fight, & fight like we train.
Link to tweet
Hughes Memorial Tower
Hughes Memorial Tower (left)
The Hughes Memorial Tower is a radio tower located in Washington, D.C. at 6001 Georgia Avenue, near the intersection of 9th Street, NW, and Peabody Street, NW. Built on January 15, 1989, the tower is positioned at 38°57′47″N 77°1′36″W and at an elevation of 87.7 m (288 ft) above mean sea level. The tower is owned by the District of Columbia Office of Property Management. It is used to for radio communication by the Washington, D.C. police department on the 460 MHz frequency band. Prior to 2017 it was used to propropagate the WDCW Channel 50 television signal, now relocated.
Origin
It was named after then-retired Assistant D.C. Police Chief John S. Hughes, a leader in the department's adoption of communications technology. Standing at 761 ft (232 m) tall, the tower's height surpasses that the Washington Monument by more than 200 ft (61 m) and the WTTG Television Tower by 55 ft (17 m). It is the tallest structure in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. It was designed by Henry “Hank” McGinnis, a Texas engineer who designed other towers in the same style, known as Landmark or Adelphon.
Hughes Memorial Tower (left)
The Hughes Memorial Tower is a radio tower located in Washington, D.C. at 6001 Georgia Avenue, near the intersection of 9th Street, NW, and Peabody Street, NW. Built on January 15, 1989, the tower is positioned at 38°57′47″N 77°1′36″W and at an elevation of 87.7 m (288 ft) above mean sea level. The tower is owned by the District of Columbia Office of Property Management. It is used to for radio communication by the Washington, D.C. police department on the 460 MHz frequency band. Prior to 2017 it was used to propropagate the WDCW Channel 50 television signal, now relocated.
Origin
It was named after then-retired Assistant D.C. Police Chief John S. Hughes, a leader in the department's adoption of communications technology. Standing at 761 ft (232 m) tall, the tower's height surpasses that the Washington Monument by more than 200 ft (61 m) and the WTTG Television Tower by 55 ft (17 m). It is the tallest structure in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. It was designed by Henry “Hank” McGinnis, a Texas engineer who designed other towers in the same style, known as Landmark or Adelphon.
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