Atlantic City firefighters rescued two workers who were trapped on a scaffolding six stories off the ground when the device had a mechanical failure on Monday morning, authorities said.
The men were doing masonry work at an 8-story building near the intersection of Atlantic and Kentucky avenues around 10:20 a.m. when the scaffolding wouldn’t stop as it began to descend, Fire Chief Scott Evans said.
The emergency stop button also failed as the scaffolding began to tilt at a 45 degree angle.
One of the workers, though, was able to reach the scaffolding’s cords and disconnect the power before the it became completely vertical.
Bystanders on the ground quickly notified firefighters from Ladder 1, who happened to be at a supermarket across the street.
“We were pretty lucky with the timing,” the chief said.
Firefighters from Rescue 1 raised their aerial latter but entered the building, climbed to the 6th floor and pull one of the men in to safety. The other, who according to the chief had “no footing” and was hanging was helped in through a fifth-floor window
Both workers were shaken up but uninjured, the chief said.
The building is under renovation.
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