Man Injured In Scaffolding Collapse At Fort Lauderdale Building
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- Power was out in parts of Fort Lauderdale after a scaffolding collapse on Monday.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said the scaffolding collapsed shortly before noon at an apartment building near 100 S Birch Road.
Officials said the traffic lights in the area were out and warned those out on the streets to drive with caution.
Officials said a painter was working on a section of Jackson Tower when it happened.
"It was just a really loud noise and as soon as I saw everything coming down, I saw it was going for the power lines so I just took cover, it was a really loud explosion," said witness Thiago Goncalves.
He said he was about to go through a door just feet away from where the worker fell. On the way down, the scaffolding hit power lines.
"I looked up and I just saw the piece of metal falling down and I saw the cables were right underneath it, as soon as I went like that, I heard the explosion," said Goncalves.
Hundreds of feet away at the marina, they heard the trouble too and saw a huge flash from the power lines.
"It looked like a bolt of lightning it was transformer or something, power cable struck something and made an enormous lightning crack sound," a worker said.
Goncalves said the worker who fell was conscious the whole time - flagging down co-workers for help.
"I just saw him waving his arms like that and the crew that was helping him just grabbed him through the arms and dragged him over there because the power lines were still active," said Goncalves. "Twenty seconds later, 30 seconds later, another explosion from the power cables."
In 2001, a man working on the same section of the building was not so fortunate. His scaffolding gave way and he fell 70 feet to his death. In this latest case, the man was lucky. Police say these trees broke his fall.
"Some guy's going to work trying to make a living and something happened. Hopefully he's okay," said a marina worker.
Police and fire rescue are not able to tell CBS 4 if the worker was wearing a harness or if today's wind played a role in the accident. The worker was transported to Broward Health Medical Center in critical condition. He has a broken leg.