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Nov. 10--A Decatur auto dealership employee suffered serious injuries when he fell through the roof of the business Wednesday morning.
Eddie Davis, general manager of Lynn Layton Cadillac-Nissan, said Jeremy Drawbaugh was on the roof cleaning a gutter when he apparently stepped backward onto a skylight.
Drawbaugh fell through a fiberglass skylight about 20 feet to the floor of the body shop, landing on his back, firefighters said. His leg also struck a car in the fall.
Emergency personnel dispatched to the business at 2416 Sixth Ave. S.E. following the 8:48 a.m. accident transported Drawbaugh to a landing zone on Veterans Drive Southeast, where a MedFlight helicopter picked him up and took him to Huntsville Hospital.
Drawbaugh has worked for Lynn Layton for more than a year, Davis said.
"Anytime we have an employee get injured, we're all concerned, and most of the employees were back there checking on him. His father works back in the parts department, and he was back there as well," Davis said.
Drawbaugh remained aware and talking the whole time, he said.
Davis said early Wednesday afternoon that he had spoken with family members who were at the hospital while Drawbaugh underwent tests, and they told him he had bruises and possible fractures.
Later in the day, a hospital spokeswoman said Drawbaugh was listed in serious condition in the emergency room.
Livingston said the last update he received was that Drawbaugh had broken his pelvis, a couple of vertebrae, a leg and a wrist and was about to undergo surgery.
Firefighters returned to the business at 2:56 p.m. to put out a fire in the paint booth's fire ventilation system.
"Their ventilation system was fully involved with fire. They had flames that went out the roof about eight to 10 feet," Livingston said.
He said firefighters pulled a hose into the building to douse the blaze.
"We knocked it down, and then we had to cut into the duct work to get in there and extinguish it. We actually had to get in there and disassemble part of it to get it out," Livingston said.
Livingston said the ventilation system was destroyed.
Four engine companies remained on the scene until about 4:30 p.m.
