A window washer dangled for close to an hour about 15 stories up at the Old Port Cove condo in North Palm Beach before firefighters rappelled down and rescued him, authorities said.
The man had been washing windows at the condo's 23-story Lake Point Tower, 100 Lakeshore Drive, when the line he used to move up and down came loose at about 10 a.m., North Palm Beach Fire Rescue District Chief Scott Freseman said.
Five North Palm Beach firefighters quickly were joined by colleagues at nearby Palm Beach Gardens and from two nearby Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue stations, including a county special operations team, Freseman said.
He said the man was not on a platform but instead was in a special basket-type seat harness.
Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue said the man was "yelling for help."
The county team dropped ropes from the roof, then rappelled down to the man and attached to him. The team and the man then lowered to the ground, Freseman said.
"The individual was able to make it to ground level with both feet on the ground," Palm Beach County FIre-Rescue said.
Freseman said the washer was looked over but didn't require medical attention.
"He was very thankful that we were able to respond so quickly and get him down," Freseman said.
Authorities said the man was about 55 but did not name him, citing medical privacy rules.
Freseman, whose been in the department since 2001, said the village has many high-rise condos but he believe an incident such as this hasn't happened in the village since some time in the 1990s.
———
©2020 The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Visit The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.) at www.palmbeachpost.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
