FRANKLIN PARK, Pa. - A western Pennsylvania man is dead after police say he fell several stories while washing windows at a Pittsburgh-office building.
The Allegheny County medical examiner's office says 48-year-old Stephen Willoughby, of Zelienople, died from injuries sustained in the fall Wednesday afternoon in Franklin Park.
Workers at a surgical center in the building attempted CPR before medical personnel arrived, but Willoughby was pronounced dead at the scene. He fell at least three stories while working with a lift at the building just north of Pittsburgh.
The medical examiner's office said Willoughby was not wearing a safety harness. Police say they have contacted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Within weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Smithsonian Institution began collecting a wide range of artifacts recovered from the three sites where the hijacked planes went down.
In an exhibit opening Sept. 3, the National Museum of American History will let visitors get much closer for a more intimate experience. The museum plans to depart from the usual glass-covered displays and assemble the objects on open, uncovered tables.
“The objects come from collectors and donors and, more importantly, people who were there,” said Cedric Yeh, curator of the Sept. 11 collections. In 2002, the museum was designated as the official archives for Sept. 11 materials.
“There are some everyday moments in the midst of destruction. There are things we all recognize. They help people understand it happened to all of us,” Yeh said.
Some are ordinary objects — a window shade and seat belt from the wreckage of United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville. Some are ordinary but became extraordinary.
Jan Demczur, a window washer at the World Trade Center, donated his squeegee handle to the museum. On Sept. 11, he was stuck in an elevator with five other men in one of the towers. He used the handle to force open the elevator door and then dig through the wall. All six were saved.
There is a crushed firetruck door from Brooklyn Squad 1, one of the first responders to the fiery scene at the twin towers.
Also displayed are smaller, but equally telling items: a postcard that a traveler mailed just before getting on one of the hijacked planes, a doll found in the rubble in New York, a log book from a flight attendant on Flight 93 and a beige corridor map of the Pentagon that hung close to where American Airlines Flight 77 hit the building.
A curator will be on hand to describe the objects on the uncovered tables. Visitors will be encouraged to record their reactions on comment cards. These cards will stay with the Sept. 11 collection at the museum; a digital version will go to the September 11 Digital Archive at George Mason University.
PITTSBURGH -- A Zelienople man died after police said he fell several stories while washing windows at an office building in Franklin Park.The Allegheny County medical examiner's office said Stephen Willoughby, 48, died from injuries sustained in the fall Wednesday afternoon.Willoughby fell at least three stories, police said.Workers at a surgical center in the building attempted CPR before medical personnel arrived, but Willoughby was pronounced dead at the scene."There's a surgical team here. We ran back inside and grabbed them. Thankfully they were still here. They ran outside and tried everything they could to save him," said witness Pat Stewart.The medical examiner's office said Willoughby was not wearing a safety harness. Police said they have contacted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.Channel 11 News learned Willoughby worked for a painting company called Roach Rothers in Upper St. Clair.
A Butler County man fell to his death on Wednesday afternoon while washing windows on a third-floor roof at the Blaymore II building in Franklin Park.
The 48-year-old Zelienople resident, whose name was being withheld pending notification of relatives, was pronounced dead at the scene despite resuscitation efforts by medical personnel from The Cosmetic Surgery & Skin Health Center and paramedics, witnesses said.
The man, an employee of Roach Brothers Inc. of Upper St. Clair, fell shortly before 4 p.m. A co-worker was still on the lift.
"The gentleman was on a mini-roof above my office, and another gentleman was in the bucket. He fell right by my window. I called for my staff to call 911 and ran down to him. When I got there, he had no pulse," said Patrick Stewart, chief executive officer for Pepperweed Consulting.
"There's a surgical unit on the first floor. I yelled for them, and they came running out and tried to resuscitate him. Paramedics arrived quickly and tried to help him," said Stewart.
Investigators said preliminary indications are that the worker was not wearing a safety harness when he fell. Stewart said he did not see a harness on the man, who landed in gravel and shrubbery at the foot of the building.
Most of the Blaymore building on Carmody Court is four stories, but the corner where the man was working is three stories tall. He was working on a flat roof with steep sides.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was notified, Franklin Park police said.
"I can only pray to God that he's in heaven," Stewart said. "I think you have to thank God every day for the gifts you are given because life is very fragile. It makes you realize how important your faith is, your family is. I'm going to go home and kiss my wife and kiss my children."
HOUSTON - Houston is in Stage 2 water restrictions, limiting the hours and days on which residents can irrigate their lawns.
But if the water shortage gets worse, some local businesses are worried about being shut down.
Under Houston city ordinance, during Stage 2 restrictions, companies that use water for their “primary business practices” are exempt from prosecution. That would include car washes and pressure washers.
But that protection disappears if we enter Stage 3 water restrictions, even though many such businesses claim to be more efficient than a homeowner trying to accomplish the same task.
Don Palmour owns Clean Car Turnpike in northwest Houston.
His car wash uses about 80-gallons of water per car. But most of that water is recycled onsite, he says. Only about 10 gallons of fresh water is required, each time.
And Palmour says, for economic and environmental reasons, water recycling is becoming the industry standard.
“I would guess that in car washes like this,” Palmour estimates, “well over 50-percent would be recycling their water.”
Another local company that puts its wastewater to good use is commercial pressure washer Environmental Magic.
“We recover, recycle and reuse the water during our process,” says CEO Patrick Kramer. “So we actually use a lot less water than a regular pressure washer, say, that people go buy at Home Depot.”
Kramer doesn’t like for his company to be lumped in with other pressure washing outfits that don’t recycle water.
But when water is scarce, any company that uses it conspicuously is vulnerable.
Houston’s Public Works department was not willing to discuss what might happen under Stage 3 or Stage 4 water restrictions.
But FOX 26 Legal Analyst Chris Tritico analyzed the city’s water shortage ordinance at our request.
“Once we hit Stage 3,” says Tritico, “the way I read this ordinance, it's going to be unlawful to run a car wash, to run a window washing business, to run a building-washing or sidewalk-washing business. Because you're not allowed to use that water.”
Travis Montgomery might be the Window Whack Job to the hosts of ABC’s “Wipeout” but he also earned another title on the goofy reality TV competition show on Thursday: Winner.
Montgomery, a window washer from Newport Beach, became the second Orange County man in two weeks to take home the $50,000 prize that goes to the winner of the show. A week earlier Daniel Fritz of Coto de Caza won his episode on the series.
“I’m super pumped!” Montgomery yelled as he was about to start the first of three different obstacle courses on the show. “I’ve got 200 people in Newport Beach watching!”
His exuberant style of mismatched Hawaiian print shirt and shorts and confidence – he repeatedly shouted at hosts John Anderson and John Henson to just go ahead and write his name on the check – earned Montgomery the Window Whack Job nickname, but he was nothing but serious when it came to blazing through the courses.
A friend of Montgomery’s tipped us to his victory, and slipped us his phone number, but when we called we got a message that his mailbox was full. Everybody loves you when you’ve got a fresh $50,000 in your bank account, we suppose.
Think you can make it on "Wipeout" or want to at least give it a try? There'll be another open casting call at Downtown Disney in Anaheim on Oct. 8. Follow the link for everything you need to know, as well as information on auditions in Burbank and San Diego this fall.
Two window washers clung to their lives in Mission Bay Thursday morning when their scaffolding broke 16 stories above the ground, according to SFGate.
While cleaning a high-rise luxury condominium at 300 Berry Street, Raul Aguilar and his nephew Benito Aguilar were saved by their safety harnesses when the scaffolding gave way beneath them -- half of it crashing to the courtyard below. The pair dangled from the roof while waiting for rescue teams to arrive.
According to CBS, both men were pulled to safety by rescue whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giforkers, but were immediately transported to San Francisco General for injuries.
Tony Aguilar, Benito's cousin, had been washing windows down the street when he heard about the incident and rushed to the scene. He told SFGate, "I came over here and saw the scaffold hanging."
Source:
Two window washers are lucky to be alive after part of a scaffolding gave way and left them dangling 14 stories high on a Mission Bay apartment building Thursday morning.
Passersby gasped as fire crews rushed to the building at 300 Berry St. just after 8:30 a.m. The scaffolding hung vertically, but the workers did not fall because they were wearing harnesses, San Francisco fire spokeswoman Lt. Mindy Talmadge said.
Firefighters pulled one of the men onto the roof. The other man was rescued through a 14th floor apartment. The residents of that room were on vacation in Ireland, a neighbor said.
One of the workers was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with serious injuries, Talmadge said. The other went to SFGH with minor injuries, she said.
The window washers were identified as Raul Aguilar and his nephew Benito Aguilar.
Rodney Blanchard, an installation and repairman with AT&T who had a job in the building, filmed the harrowing scene on his cellphone.
"I'm just glad they're okay," Blanchard said.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating. The owner of the window washing company said that a davit that is attached to the building and is supposed to secure the scaffolding snapped.
Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/08/window-washers-survive-soma-scaffolding-mishap#ixzz1U5u8urP2
