They were cleaning windows on the World Trade Center, it was neat to see how they cut the window near them to rescue them. They didn't have too many other options...http://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/two-window-washers-trapped-on-world-trade-center
Did You See The Window Washers Stuck on A Scaffold 68 Stories High Today?
- Thread starter SeaBreeze
- Start date
SifuPhil
R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
- Location
- Pennsylvania, USA
I guess they took them through the window Juan by Juan ...
Debby
Well-known Member
- Location
- East coast of Canada
My husband owned a window cleaning company for 35 years, and they did numerous high-rises in the downtown Vancouver area.
There is a tower in Vancouver with a revolving restaurant up on top at a height of 553 feet.
In the first years, they had the contract to do the windows which were accessed by a drop-down stage whose inside edge fitted into a track just under the windows. A high wind came up as they were working on it, and somehow managed to catch the stage just enough to lift the edge out of the track which allowed the floor of the stage to simply drop away under their feet. That was in the early years before Compo started cracking down severely so for whatever reason, him and the other bozo he worked with didn't have harnesses on.
He said as the floor dropped out and he started to fall (553 feet) it was like time slowed right down. He grabbed for the rail in front of him....and missed....and then grabbed a second time and thankfully that time he managed to catch it.
And here's a tip that I remember him complaining about constantly folks: If you are ever in town and you see a roped off area around a high-rise but nothing going on, don't go and sit inside the barricade to have your lunch. Window cleaners working above slop dirty water out of their buckets and sometimes they drop things off the stage. Do you have any idea how hard a squeegee hits the pavement when it's dropped from 500 feet?
He used to get so frustrated at the morons who insisted on sitting below where the guys were working, while they had their lunch. And people would get so annoyed if he happened to come by and ask them to move for their own safety.
There is a tower in Vancouver with a revolving restaurant up on top at a height of 553 feet.
In the first years, they had the contract to do the windows which were accessed by a drop-down stage whose inside edge fitted into a track just under the windows. A high wind came up as they were working on it, and somehow managed to catch the stage just enough to lift the edge out of the track which allowed the floor of the stage to simply drop away under their feet. That was in the early years before Compo started cracking down severely so for whatever reason, him and the other bozo he worked with didn't have harnesses on.
He said as the floor dropped out and he started to fall (553 feet) it was like time slowed right down. He grabbed for the rail in front of him....and missed....and then grabbed a second time and thankfully that time he managed to catch it.
And here's a tip that I remember him complaining about constantly folks: If you are ever in town and you see a roped off area around a high-rise but nothing going on, don't go and sit inside the barricade to have your lunch. Window cleaners working above slop dirty water out of their buckets and sometimes they drop things off the stage. Do you have any idea how hard a squeegee hits the pavement when it's dropped from 500 feet?
He used to get so frustrated at the morons who insisted on sitting below where the guys were working, while they had their lunch. And people would get so annoyed if he happened to come by and ask them to move for their own safety.
