Explosion 20 Stories High Leaves Window Cleaner Dangling, Cameras Capture Daring Rescue
No one really likes clichés. Whether you’re writing or reading them, you’ll almost always find these oft-repeated idioms unsatisfying, their primary point blunted by endless repetition.
Yet we all also know that clichés also convey important truths — which is the reason why they’ve become clichés!
That’s why I couldn’t help but think about the old phrase “his life flashed before his eyes” when reading about a harrowing incident in downtown Atlanta on May 18.
The scene unfolded like something in a movie. It started at the Icon Building in Midtown, one of the Gate City’s large business districts.
The 39-story high-rise is covered with gleaming panes of glass, and you know who has to keep those clean, right? Some very brave window washers.
On the day of the incident, a pair of window washers were working on the building when the unthinkable happened: Their scaffolding started to fail.
*WORKING INCIDENT* @ATLFireRescue on scene at 14th Street and W. Peachtree. Portion of window washing platform collapsed and hit large power lines which caused an electrical explosion and vehicle fire. Working to secure platform still dangling from building. pic.twitter.com/xMnefk8HuJ
— Atlanta Fire Rescue (@ATLFireRescue) May 18, 2018
A video shot from a nearby building showed the supportive structure listing to the side. One worker seemed to have already gotten to a balcony.
Without warning, the scaffolding gave way. Falling debris struck a power line, which caused a dramatic electrical explosion.
One witness said that the flaming wreckage damaged his car. “The embers of the fire kind of cracked my front end, my back windshield and there’s some burn marks on the back, some indentations,” he told WSB.
“I saw that scaffolding snap,” another witness, Liz Brown, said. “The man working on that scaffolding was hanging, and luckily he had his safety harness, and I am looking at him swinging back and forth.”
Police quickly closed off the area around the building. Fortunately, both workers were safe.
We can all give thanks for a happy resolution to that incredibly tense moment.
I can’t help but wonder what exactly must’ve rushed through that man’s mind as he found himself dangling hundreds of feet above the earth in the blink of an eye?
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