OCFD: Window Washers Rescued From Dangling Lift At Devon Tower

Wednesday, May 15th 2019, 9:08 am

By: Brieon Sumlin, Dana Hertneky

The Oklahoma City Fire Department rescued two window washers who were trapped on a dangling lift Wednesday at the Devon Tower in downtown Oklahoma City.

Video shows the basket swinging out of control, as firefighters worked to rescue the workers.

Firefighters got the call around 7:45 Wednesday morning.

“The men on there are holding on,” said the 911 caller.

Devon's CEO was just a couple floors below.

“I was actually up on the 47th floor looking up and actually saw the window washer even swinging out and obviously great concern,” said Dave Hager.

“I could observe glass coming down, you could hear it hitting very loudly on the side of the building,” continued Hager.

“It kept swinging all the way out from the building and spinning and I saw glass falling,” said Charles Peterson, who witnessed what was happening from below. “I started praying, I said God please don’t let anything happen to these guys.”

The fire department sent their technical rescue specialists up to the top of the building where they discovered the basket. They had to throw a rope to the men to stop the basket from swinging. And then, used the crane to lower the basket and rescue the men.

“One of the workers in there was trying to communicate with us and he was excited,” said Deputy Chief Michael Walker, who was in charge of the roof operations. “The other was very calm and just holding on. They had enough conscious thought that they were compliant to instructions, so they actually assisted with their own rescue.”

The men were shaken up but refused medical treatment. No one was injured on the ground.

The streets below the Devon tower were closed for part of the day, because of concerns of more falling glass.