Construction Accidents Page 7

Construction Accidents Page #7

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

East Mall fire bill tipped to exceed $10,000
Friday, 20 June 2003
THE DAMAGE bill could be up to $20,000 following a fire in two adjacent residential units in the East Mall on Wednesday afternoon. The fire, on the first floor above the Uphill and Schaefer Real Estate office, started in the roof of one of the units. Three builders who had been working on a renovation of the units were treated by ambulance officers for smoke inhalation after they had attempted to put the fire out. Police said that, during some welding operations, the sparking had ignited and ceiling wood work had also caught fire. Armidale Fire Brigade station officer, Mick Howard, said firemen wearing breathing apparatus used a pressure fan to ventilate the roof void. The fire was extinguished and salvage work carried out. “The roof was severely damaged in one unit and the remainder of the upper levels were damaged by heat, smoke and water,” Officer Howard said. “Water went through the floor of one of the units, so there was also minor water damage in the Uphill and Schaefer office below. Officer Howard estimated that damage would run between $10,000 and $20,000.

Worker Critically Injured In 20-Foot Fall
HOUSTON — A construction worker was injured when he fell into a ditch in northeast Houston Thursday. Officials said a piece of construction equipment snapped, and a cable hit the 27-year-old man in the chest. He then fell into a 20-foot hole, according to authorities. The accident happened around noon on Dell Dale, near Wallisville. The victim, who was not identified, was transported by Lifeflight to Memorial Hermann Hospital. He is listed in critical condition. The accident is under investigation. 

Man injured in fall from ladder
June 19, 2003 
A Giles County man was seriously injured Thursday afternoon in a 20-foot fall from a ladder. Contractor Robbie O’Malley was working on a barn in the Blue Creek area when a gust of wind knocked another worker’s ladder into the ladder on which O’Malley was standing. The Giles County Ambulance Service met O’Malley on the way to Richland School and transported him to the school grounds where he was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. O’Malley suffered serious bruises, two broken wrists, a crushed left arm and several head injuries requiring 20 stitches. Doctors will decide this week if further treatment or surgery is required. O’Malley said he has received numerous calls from his friends and customers since the accident and is pleased that his employees are continuing to maintain his business obligations as he recuperates. 

Police: Construction Worker Hit By Drunken Driver; Richardson Is In Good Condition
WEST JEFFERSON, Ohio — A man is in jail after police said he hit a construction worker with his pickup truck Wednesday while driving drunk on Interstate 70 in Madison County. Police said Ronald G. Delozier II, of Grove City, was traveling east through a construction zone when he struck Robert E. Richardson with his Toyota pickup truck while the worker was standing about 3 or 4 feet inside the closed right lane. Richardson was taken by medical helicopter to The Ohio State University Medical Center with possible internal injuries. He is listed in good condition. Several motorists said they saw Delozier’s pickup truck moving erratically and recklessly for several miles before the accident. Police said that as Delozier approached the work crew, he swerved into the closed right lane and struck several orange barrels and the construction worker. The worker was thrown to the ground, police said. Police said Delozier slowed down, but then returned to the open left lane and continued driving. A fellow worker got into an Ohio Department of Transportation truck and chased Delozier, forcing him to the shoulder of the road. Delozier is in the Tri-County Jail in Mechanicsburg. He is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, aggravated vehicular assault, hit-skip and failure to control a motor vehicle. Delozier is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

UPDATE Investigation continues in accident at Carquinez Bridge
Benicia The investigation continues today into an accident that left a construction worker injured on the new span of the Carquinez Bridge. Authorities say the man was on a catwalk up the north tower of the new span when a cable broke, wrapped around him and knocked him to the floor of the catwalk. The cable which broke is used to move buckets of paint, tools and other equipment up and down the tower. Officials say the man was saved from falling 200 feet to the water by bars along the sides of the catwalk. He suffered abdominal injuries and cuts. Construction on the bridge began in 2000 — and officials say this is one of the more serious accidents in a relatively safe three years. The new span is set to open in November. 

UPDATE Underground Services (1983) Ltd. fined $150,000 for health and safety violation
BELLEVILLE, ON, June 19 /CNW/ – Underground Services (1983) Ltd., a Bolton, Ont. construction company, was fined $150,000 on June 17, 2003 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in the death of two workers. On October 26, 2001, workers were removing “jersey barriers” (concrete road barriers) at a highway road and bridge repair project when a cable on a crane, which was being used to lift the barriers, came in contact with a 44,000-volt overhead power line. The incident occurred as one of the workers, who had been signalling the crane operator, went to speak to a second worker. At the time, the crane was in a stopped position. While the signal worker’s back was turned, the crane started to back up and the second worker yelled for the signal worker to alert the crane operator of the nearby overhead wires. However, before the signal worker could warn the operator, the crane’s cable came in contact with the power line, which was located 11.58 metres (37 feet, 11 inches) above the highway, and the crane became energized. The signal worker was electrocuted while trying to get between the crane and centre median to warn the operator. The operator was electrocuted while trying to leave the crane’s cab, possibly after seeing the signal worker fall. Both workers died as a result of their injuries. The incident occurred on Highway 401 near Highway 62 in Belleville. Underground Services (1983) Ltd. had been contracted by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to conduct the highway repairs on Highway 401 between overpasses on Highways 37 and 62. Underground Services had, in turn, contracted some of the work to a crane company, which employed the two deceased workers. As constructor, Underground Services had overall responsibility for the safety of all employers and workers on the project. Underground Services (1983) Ltd. pleaded guilty, as the constructor, to failing to ensure warning signs were posted in prominent locations where there was a potential hazard from energized overhead power lines, as required by Section 44 of the Regulations for Construction Projects. This was contrary to Section 23(1)(a) of the act. The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Sheila Matchett of the Ontario Court of Justice in Belleville. In addition, the court imposed a 25- per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. 

Officials look into San Pablo accident; Livermore man crushed
By Scott Steinberg STAFF WRITER Thursday, June 19, 2003 
State safety officials are investigating a San Pablo construction accident that killed a Livermore man this week. Sathaniel Menzie was crush-ed to death Tuesday while demolishing a former Chinese restaurant, which also was once a bank, officials said. The 31-year-old was sweeping debris near the area of a gutted walk-in safe when the vault’s door toppled, killing him instantly, the Contra Costa County coroner’s office said. A spokeswoman for the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the door of the vault was left standing because the contractor intended to salvage it. The department is trying to determine how the door was supported structurally, OSHA spokeswoman Susan Gard said, adding that an investigation could take a few months. San Pablo Sgt. Ken Bays said the door was standing by itself and did not appear to be secured by other walls. But he said the police department was confident it was an industrial death. “It was obvious the construction guys were pretty shaken up,” Bays said. Another employee used an excavator to lift the door off Menzie. The door was about 10 feet tall, 6 feet wide, and 16 inches thick, the sergeant said. Ken Manning, owner of Soil Enterprises Inc., would not comment about the accident. The company’s job was to finish demolishing the Jasmine Restaurant and clean up the site. The state previously has cited the demolition company for workplace violations, Gard said. In December 1998, CalOSHA fined the company $3,000 for a violating hard-hat rules, and $125 for having an earth-hauling vehicle without a windshield or lights. In November 1994, CalOSHA fined the company $262 for not supplying a written assessment of the hazards of a particular demolition job, and $87 for missing an element of the employee injury and illness prevention program. Following the passage of stricter employee safety legislation in 2000, the price of workplace violations are costlier. OSHA can levy fines up to $70,000.

Construction worker drowns while taking a break
The Associated Press – TOWNVILLE, S.C.
A Georgia construction worker has died after he jumped into Lake Hartwell to clean up, authorities say. Witnesses said Moises Aguilar, 17, struggled as soon as he jumped into the lake Tuesday afternoon, and soon disappeared, County coroner Karl Addis said. Sheriffs Office divers found Aguilars body about an hour later, Addis said. Aguilar, of Calhoun, Ga., and a co-worker decided to take a swim after getting dirty working on a company van, the coroner said. Aguilar was part of a crew building a house on the lake, Addis said.

Portion of building being demolished collapses 
The Associated Press 6/18/03 11:17 PM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The body of a construction worker was found Wednesday night in the rubble of a partially collapsed downtown building. A Michigan State Police cadaver dog located the body about 10:30 p.m. EDT, Lt. Larry Frye said. The victim’s name was not immediately released. The body was to be released to the Kent County Medical Examiner’s Office after it was removed from the accident scene, radio station WOOD-AM reported. State safety regulators were to begin an investigation Thursday, the station said. The collapse occurred shortly after 11 a.m. just inside Welsh Auditorium, a portion of the Grand Rapids Convention Center that was due for demolition Sunday as part of a $212 million renovation project. “We know that there were two men working within an enclosed stairwell in Welsh Auditorium,” said Annette Guilfoyle, spokeswoman for the city of Grand Rapids. “One left to get tools and when he returned, there’d been a collapse within a stairwell. One worker is unaccounted for.” The missing man’s parents and pastor were called to the scene, she said. The structure is attached to the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel by a second-floor skywalk. The two workers were at the top of the first floor when the accident occurred, Guilfoyle said. Rescuers used plastic buckets to scoop debris away from the scene and 150 construction workers from the site volunteered to help clear a path, she said. Authorities said engineers surveyed the structure to determine how to continue with rescue efforts. Crews used a special search camera obtained from a fire equipment exhibition at nearby DeVos Hall to assist rescue efforts. “They had a small piece of conduit and fed the camera into the search site,” Guilfoyle said. Jon Nunn, executive director of The Grand Action, a private organization that helped put together the convention center development deal, said workers recently had begun asbestos abatement efforts in Welsh Auditorium. The auditorium was to be demolished and replaced by a 40,000 square foot ballroom, part of an expansion and renovation project that when completed was expected to cover about 1 million square feet, Nunn said. 

Man Trapped Under Crane
A construction worker is in the hospital tonight after being trapped beneath a crane in Ames. It turned into a very scary afternoon for the Less Johnson and those who rescued him. At about 1:30 this afternoon there were roughly twenty workers at Jack Trice Stadium when a sixty ton crane came crashing down. Weitz Construction company and some subcontractors were trying to take apart sections of the crane’s boom. It took three men to get the job done, but something went wrong. The crane was about six feet in the air when it fell to the ground pinning 46-year-old Johnson beneath it. The crane landed mainly on Johnson’s left leg. His fellow construction workers were able to free him in a matter of minutes. Construction workers are still trying to figure out what caused the crane to drop. Johnson, is in fair condition at Mary Greeley Medical Center with a broken leg. Severe weather did hit this area this afternoon, but the president of the construction company says that had nothing to do with the accident. 

Worker Bruised in Bridge Accident
Posted: June 17, 2003 at 3:43 p.m.
VALLEJO (BCN) — Vallejo resident Ron Hinds suffered bruises but no broken bones or internal injuries when he was hit by a tramway line on the new westbound Carquinez Bridge this morning, Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney said this afternoon. Hinds will probably be held overnight at the John Muir Trauma Center in Walnut Creek for observation, Ney said. The Vallejo Fire Department reported Hinds was injured this morning when a 2-inch diameter feeding cable broke and struck him around 7 a.m. Ney said Hinds was taking down a temporary tramway when he was hit by the line and rolled about 20 feet down a footbridge on the new span of the bridge now under construction. Hinds works as a laborer for the FCI Constructors Inc. and Cleveland Bridge Inc. joint venture companies constructing the new span, Ney said. The accident happened on the northwest side of the bridge on the catwalk just under the main support cables, fire department spokesman Bill Tweedy said. Firefighters packaged the worker in full cervical spine precautions and used high angle rescue equipment to lower the worker to the ground with a braking system and a stokes basket, Tweedy said. Nine firefighters responded and the injured worker was on the ground 42 minutes after the original call was received, Tweedy said. Ney said the accident didn’t cause any traffic backup other than that of the normal morning commute. The $200 million project is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The new span will have three mixed flow traffic lanes, a carpool lane and a pedestrian-bicycle path. 

3 hurt in East High construction accident
Three construction workers were taken by ambulance to Wesley Medical Center today after some scaffolding they were working on collapsed outside East High School. Wichita Fire Department battalion Chief Mike Menges said two of the men fell 18 to 20 feet to the ground when the wooden scaffolding gave way. The third escaped a fall but ended up with his leg pinned by some concrete blocks. Rescue crews said one worker sustained minor injuries while two others had potentially serious injuries. Their names were not immediately released. School district spokeswoman Susan Arensman said the three were working on a new gymnasium when the accident occurred about 1:30 p.m. Two workers badly burned in explosion. Two construction workers suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation this afternoon when a chemical they were using to waterproof a house ignited. “It was a big boom,” said Miguel Briceno, a third construction worker who was not injured. “It threw me to the ground.” The men were using a petroleum-based material to fill a crack in the back of a home, 902 N. Lawrence Lane. The material somehow ignited, caused a flash and started a fire in the back of the home, Wichita Fire Battalion Chief Mike Menges said. 

Workers survive cave-in 
By Barb Ickes 
A dramatic rescue that enlisted some 30 workers from a nearby bridge construction project ended with one victim helping save the other. Two workers from Peoria-based Custom Underground were standing above a hole in a ditch just south of the Rock River bridge in Moline while laying cable Wednesday afternoon when the ground suddenly gave way. Both were sent tumbling into the hole with dirt pouring in behind them. One of the men was buried only to his knees and was able to quickly escape, but the soil completely buried the second man. Neither victim was immediately identified by police. The 2:15 p.m. accident occurred at precisely the right place, though — just yards from an Interstate 74 bridge construction site where a crew of workers, trained in excavation rescue, heard screams for help and rushed to the collapsed hole. As workers from Civil Contractors dug furiously at the dirt with shovels and hoes, the victim who had escaped the hole climbed into a track hoe and began removing dirt with the precision of a tablespoon. Meanwhile, workers from Civil Contractors laid plywood on the roadway and began cutting pieces to fit into the hole, creating walls to hold back the dirt. Others held a sheet over the hole to protect the victim from the afternoon sun while employees of the nearby Montana Jacks restaurant kept the rescuers supplied with cold water. Portions of 27th Street were barricaded by police during the nearly three-hour rescue effort, fearing the weight and vibration of passing vehicles would cause further collapse. The street closing forced drivers to find alternate routes in an area already heavily congested by the I-74 construction project near the Quad-City International Airport. At one point, Civil Contractors workers rushed a power saw into the hole when they realized the victim’s foot was stuck in an underground pipe. Nearby, a MedForce helicopter landed on a dime at the Interstate 280 overpass, waiting to transport the victim to a nearby hospital. Throughout the ordeal, the victim reportedly continued to communicate with his rescuers, who took turns holding an intravenous fluids bag over the hole. Bradley Forret, the president of Laborers’ Local 309 in Rock Island, rushed to the scene after hearing about the accident. He initially feared the victims were from Civil Contractors, many of whom are members of his union. “This is what all that training paid for,” he said, his voice trembling. “We get to send two guys home to their wives and kids today. “All these men just jumped in, no questions asked,” he said. “They heard them calling out for help and dropped everything they were doing.” As firefighters and paramedics stood ready with a stretcher, Forret crossed himself and looked to the ominous clouds moving toward the rescue site. “It’s truly amazing, these workers standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the rain coming,” he said, the emotion obvious in his voice. “It makes you want to get up again in the morning, doesn’t it? “Rain could really cause some problems here,” he said nervously. “But they’re getting close, got to be getting close.” As the helicopter fired up its engines, a body board was lowered into the hole. Moments later, the board and the victim emerged. And as the chopper rose from the roadway, the first raindrops fell. 

Work crews strike gas line
News Herald reports
CLAY TOWNSHIP — A construction crew broke a gas line on Smith Drive north of Genoa city limits Monday afternoon. Bergman Paving was working in the 1500 block of Smith Drive, and about 1:30 p.m. Clay Township police received a call that workers struck a gas line, according to police reports. The Allen-Clay Joint Fire District was called and checked out the scene. No one was evacuated, and the gas company was called to repair the damage, police reported. 

Floor Collapses In Hotel Under Construction
HOUSTON — Part of a hotel floor under construction in downtown Houston collapsed Wednesday afternoon, officials told News2Houston. A 20-by-30-foot section of the eighth floor of the old Texas State Hotel, 720 Fannin at Capitol, caved in and fell to the basement around 3:30 p.m. Witnesses described the collapse as a loud series of explosions. “It was boom, boom, boom, boom — from the ninth floor on down,” said Roy Vargas. “And then the smoke, then the glass. And I looked at my customers and we were like, ‘Man, did you see that?'” All of the 50 workers inside the 300-room building were accounted for and no injuries were reported, officials said. The workers were stationed on the ninth floor or higher when the collapse happened. A worker told News2Houston that they were working with pneumatic jackhammers at the time, and the vibrations may have contributed to the collapse. The 75-year-old hotel has been under renovation since February. The building has 16 floors in the 200,000-square foot structure. It was built in 1926 and has been vacant since the 1980s. In 1931, seven Houstonians met at the hotel for lunch and created what became the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, one of the Houston’s largest annual events. Last month, firefighters were called to the same hotel for a fire on the 12th floor. A torch in an elevator shaft was believed to the cause. No one was injured in the fire. The cause of the cave-in is under investigation.

UPDATE SPA WORKER KILLED IN FALL 
15:00 – 17 June 2003 
An Investigation is under way into the death of a Bath building company worker from a fall at the city’s new spa development. Today police and the Health and Safety Executive were due to visit the city centre site for the first time since the incident to carry out an inspection. John Cox fell several feet while checking work on the £23m project, which is due to be opened in August. Mr Cox, who was born in Bath, was taken to the Royal United Hospital. But he died two weeks later of his head injuries after being transferred to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol. Mr Cox had worked for Mowlem, the spa project’s main contractor, for 26 years. The 54-year-old was carrying out inspection and snagging works at the site when he fell. Det Sgt Mike Porter, who is leading the police investigation, said that they were trying to establish how Mr Cox sustained his head injury. “There are no other parties involved. We are looking at this as an industrial accident. We are simply investigating the circumstances surrounding it.” An i nquest is likely to be held later this year. A spokeswoman for the HSE, the Government body responsible for workplace safety, said it was in the early stages of its investigation. “All we know at this stage is that he fell from a height of several metres and sustained serious head injuries. “There were no witnesses to the incident.” Mr Cox lived for most of his life in Bath before moving to Kingswood, Bristol. He was educated at the former Westhill School, now known as Culverhay, and later worked as a carpenter. He was a member of the Exiles (Bath) Cricket Club from the age of 15. A statement from Mowlem, whose Bath-based Ernest Ireland arm is carrying out the spa work, said: “We can confirm that Arthur John Cox (known as John) has died as a result of a serious head injury suffered in an accident at our Bath spa project. “We extend our deepest sympathies to John’s family and friends, particularly his wife, son and daughter.” A spokesman for Bath and North East Somerset Council’s spa project team said staff wanted to express their sympathy to Mr Cox’s family. Mr Cox, who fell last month and died earlier this month, had been transferred from the RUH to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol. 

Louisiana man’s fatal 1,200-foot fall investigated 
The Associated Press 6/17/03 1:57 PM
GOEHNER, Neb. (AP) — A faulty piece of safety equipment may have led to the death of a worker who fell 1,200 feet from a television transmission tower, the Seward County sheriff said. Carlos J. Munoz, 22, of West Monroe, La., was attached to the tower through a harness system moments before he fell, Sheriff Joe Yocum said. A piece of the harness system apparently hooked to the tower was found bent “at a disturbing angle,” Yocum said Tuesday. “That definitely jumps off the page at me,” he said. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration was called in to help with the investigation. Yocum said the federal investigators will be asked to help inspect and analyze the safety equipment, including the bent piece. Munoz was one of the five employees of SpectraSite Broadcast Group of Irving, Texas, who had been working on the 1,500-foot tower 30 miles west of Lincoln for the last two weeks, Yocum said. The crew had been working to reinforce the KOLN/KGIN transmission tower after a high-definition television antenna was added to it last fall, Yocum said. “We’re working together with OSHA and local authorities to investigate the incident fully. We have no further comment at this time,” said Noreen Allen, a spokeswoman for SpectraSite’s corporate headquarters in Cary, N.C. It was the state’s fourth death involving a tower accident in the last 14 months. All involved workers who were performing tasks associated with upgrading towers for high-definition television transmissions. In September, two men were killed when a 1,965-foot television tower collapsed near Hemingford as they worked reinforce it. Another man was killed in April 2002 by falling debris from a 1,524-foot tower near Bassett. In the latest accident, the victim was one of three workers who were on the tower, and two others were on the ground when the accident happened about 4:40 p.m. CDT Monday, Yocum said. “The others say the victim was attached to the tower moments before he fell,” Yocum said. “We are going to focus our investigation on the harness system and safety equipment in place at the time.” 

Worker Hurt in Blast
SOUTHAMPTON TWP., NJ-June 17, 2003 — Medics are rushing to help at least one injured person at a New Jersey construction company after a tank exploded on the job this morning. It happened at the D’Amico Concrete Plant in Southampton Township, where officials say an air tank has exploded. The explosion has injured one person. A medical chopper is heading to the scene to fly the victim to a local hospital. There’s no word on the person’s condition, and no word yet on what caused the tank to explode. Stay tuned to Action News throughout the morning for more about breaking story as it becomes available.

Workers’ tools spark blaze in SJU dormitory basement 
By Tien-Shun Lee 06/12/2003 
An electrical worker was burned when a flash fire broke out last Thursday in the basement of one of the St. John’s University dormitories. A flash fire broke out in the basement of a St. John’s University dormitory around 2 p.m. last Thursday, causing burns to the face and chest of a worker who was installing equipment to improve cell-phone reception in the building. About 60 firemen responded to the call, and the fire in a storage utility room of Hollis Hall was under control within 10 minutes, said Sean Johnson, a spokesman for the Fire Department. “Aside from the worker being injured, it was a fairly minor incident,” said Jody Fisher, a spokesman for the university. The injured worker was taken to Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, where he was in stable condition on Tuesday. He was one of two employees of the Highland Construction Co. in Rockland County who were installing the equipment at the university’s dormitory. The second worker was not injured. According to Fisher, the two workers were installing the electrical equipment side by side, using handheld tools that emitted sparks. Sparks from the tool of one of the workers fell into a bucket filled with a type of glue substance as he was mounting the equipment on the wall. The glue ignited in a flash, burning the worker in the face and chest. Fisher said he did not know what the glue substance was. Calls to the Highland Construction Co. were not returned. At the time of the fire, the dormitory was closed to students for the summer and occupied only by a person at the front desk and one or two other employees, Fisher said. The few employees were evacuated from the building when the Fire Department responded. “The fire was very far away from the employees, in a basement room made out of cinder-block construction,” Fisher said. “And there’s fire-proofing material throughout the entire building.” Fisher said he was glad that the injured worker’s condition had improved. The cell-phone antenna work would be finished at a later date, he said. 

Fire leaves Norwalk man severely burned 
NORWALK – Ramiro Rodriguez, 29, who was severely burned in a Norwalk house fire on Saturday, is still in critical condition at Bridgeport Hospital’s burn unit. Rodriguez was installing a new roof in Norwalk when a propane torch ignited the fire. He has burns on more than 80 percent of his body. Sergio Rodriguez, Ramiro’s brother, finds it hard to cope with what happened. He was also on the roof Saturday and suffered minor burns to his forehead and right arm. Sergio says he did not see the fire when it started but looked across the roof when he heard his brother screaming. He says he desperately tried to get to his brother who was being engulfed in flames. He said the fire’s intense heat forced him away. A co-worker, Antonia Sandow, was also injured in the fire and was treated at Norwalk Hospital for minor burns.

Bridge Construction Worker Crushed To Death
June 16, 2003
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A construction worker on the Wonderwood Connector project was killed Monday morning by a falling concrete piling. A Fire-Rescue spokesman said the man working on the western approach to the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway was crushed by a concrete pillar being set in place. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office homicide investigators were called to the scene. “A concrete post snapped in half,” JSO Lt. Mike Beckmann said. “It was up on a large crane and (workers were) securing it. It snapped in half and struck him.” The man’s identity was not released, pending the notification of his family. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will also investigate the death. The death occurred on the 2-mile, $36.8 million Wonderwood project, which will connect east Arlington to Mayport. “Our hearts go out to the family, and we will do everything we can to help ease their pain,” the contractor, Eby Construction Co., said in a statement. Construction on the site was suspended until Wednesday. This is the second death of a worker on the Wonderwood Connector project. Last July, 51-year-old Beverly Brittain drowned when she dove into the water off a tugboat to free the tug’s propeller.

Fire Damages Hinsdale Church 
Sunday, June 15, 2003, 10:37 a.m.By Bob Roberts WBBM Newsradio 780
(Hinsdale) — Fire caused minor damage to a church in west suburban Hinsdale. But the senior minister of the Union Church, Verlee Copeland, says “we have a lot to be thankful for,” and says services will go forward as scheduled on Sunday at the church at 137 S. Garfield Ave. Copeland says firefighters blame the fire on a welding accident. Construction is going forward on an addition to the church complex near the spot where the fire began. Copeland says the church organ was located beneath the section of roof that caught fire. She says it “was a bit out of tune” but playable after firefighters finished putting out the fire, and that giant fans were being used to draw the smoke out of the sanctuary. But she says it should not prevent services from taking place, and says when the average person walked through the sanctuary it’s impossible to tell where the fire occurred. Nonetheless, Copeland says the organ will be checked in the coming week to make sure there is no serious damage. Firefighters from eight suburs battled the fire, breaking through the roof to put it out. One firefighter required treatment for heat exhaustion, but was not hospitalized. 

Fall injures worker
A worker was flown to a Baltimore trauma hospital Saturday after falling more than 15 feet off a building under construction in Parole, county police said. Nicholas Ritzer, 28, of Damascus, was taken to the Shock-Trauma Center at University Hospital, where he was in serious condition this morning, a hospital spokesman said. Mr. Ritzer and another man were putting up roofing trusses on the building at 2623 Riva Road about 11 a.m. when one broke and hit them, causing Mr. Ritzer to fall, police said. He suffered a large cut to his head, back pain and told paramedics he had diffculty feeling his lower extremities, police said. The other worker, William Manges, 30, of Emmittsburg, did not fall and declined medical treatment at the scene, police said. 

Worker killed in brick wall fall
16jun03
A MAN was killed when a 3m wall of bricks fell on his him at a Sydney building site today. Police said the wall of bricks, which had only just been laid, collapsed on to the 50-year-old man about 10am (AEST) today. The man was one of five workers at the unit block construction site in Military Road at North Bondi. WorkCover and police were investigating. 

Steel and Tube worker hurt in accident 
17 June 2003 By JOHN HENZELL
A Christchurch workman has suffered a crushed leg in an accident at Steel and Tube. The man was taken to hospital by ambulance after the accident at the Blenheim Road distribution centre about 5.30pm yesterday. No further details were available. The accident is being investigated by Occupational Safety and Health. Last month, Christchurch Coroner Richard McElrea heard that Steel and Tube had made big improvements in its safety practices since the death of contract truck driver Rory Herrick at the Blenheim Road site in October 1999. Mr Herrick, 27, was getting something from his toolbox while securing a load of steel rods on to his semi-trailer when a forklift nudged a wooden pallet the rods were on, sending them crashing from the deck of the truck. He died instantly. At the time, Steel and Tube had recently introduced a health and safety policy that made it mandatory for forklift drivers to attend safety courses. The forklift driver had not yet attended the course. A prosecution of Steel and Tube ended with te company being discharged without conviction. Judge Graeme Noble found that “the nature of the offending had nothing whatsoever to do with the unfortunate fatality”. The inquest was told that in June last year, Steel and Tube reached its goal of no lost-time accidents in the previous 12 months compared with 86 such accidents in 1996.

Welder sparks small fire at A.C. condos
From Press staff reports
ATLANTIC CITY – A contractor sparked a minor fire on the sixth floor of a high-rise building Wednesday while working with a welding torch, fire officials said. Firefighters responded to the Ritz condominium building at 2715 Boardwalk at 3:10 p.m., authorities said. The sixth floor had filled with smoke after the contractor, who was cutting a steel beam while doing remodeling work, sparked the fire when the welding torch ignited debris in the wall, Battalion Chief Charles Ritzel said. Firefighters controlled the flames quickly by using a small hose the contractor had on hand as part of the fire code safety requirements necessary for welding work, the chief said. Firefighters were at the scene for about 50 minutes and damage to the building was minimal. 

Worker struck by semi in I-80 construction zone
ASSOCIATED PRESS 
ELKO, Nev. (AP) – A Nevada Department of Transportation worker was injured Thursday when he was struck by a semi in a construction zone on Interstate 80 east of Elko. Ron Holt, 50, Elko, was flown to Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital in Elko following the 10:30 a.m. accident, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Rocky Gonzalez said. Rescuers told radio station KELK that Holt was conscious and stable but suffering from internal injuries. Gonzalez said he suffered two broken legs and a broken pelvis as well as head trauma. The westbound trucker, Marion Klocek, 53, Chicago, was hauling a load of frozen food. He was not hurt. Authorities said he was able to brake and steer sharply while trying to avoid the worker. The highway patrol was investigating. Gonzalez said a preliminary review indicated Holt was working in a closed zone but may have stepped into the travel lane. Witness told authorities the worker was thrown into the median by the impact but was not run over. The interstate’s westbound lanes were closed for about an hour backing up traffic 2 to 3 miles. 

Worker Trapped In Sewer Pipe 
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A dramatic rescue to free a construction worker trapped in a sewer pipe ended well Wednesday and the victim could be out of the hospital later today. The construction worker was working on a sewer line on Northwest 6th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale when his foot was sucked into the sand. Rescue crews and coworkers spent nearly two hours digging him out, at times digging by hand. For some coworkers the accident serves as a reminder of how dangerous the job can be. “Everyday we come to work and you know you think about it — it’s safety. Safety first man. It’s got to be safety first and this is something that just happened in the spur of the moment and you think it’s not such a deep hole — that it won’t happen and it happens,” said one worker. Once freed, the man was taken to Broward General Medical Center for treatment. Luckily he suffered only a sore back. 

Construction Mishap Traps 2 Workers in Pit 
By Karl B. Hille The Winchester Star 
Two workmen were trapped in a hole by the boom of a 4-ton industrial forklift Wednesday when the vehicle’s body slipped into an adjacent pit. Lt. Kevin Yost of the Winchester Fire and Rescue Department said the men were freed by quick-thinking coworkers and escaped serious harm. “They were unpinned when we got here,” he said. “A couple of other workers raised the arm a little on the lift and freed them.” The men, who have not been identified, were taken to Winchester Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. Yost said they were conscious and talking when they were transported. A worker who declined to give his name walks away from the scene of a construction accident Wednesday on Jubal Early Drive. This 4-ton industrial forklift slipped into a trench, causing the front lift to tilt down and trap two men in an adjacent pit. The men were spared from serious injuries thanks to the quick-thinking rescue efforts of their coworkers. A WMC nursing supervisor would not comment on their condition, citing a federal patient confidentiality law. The law allows hospitals to provide information about patients who sign confidentiality waivers. However, Valley Health System, which operates WMC, enacted a stricter policy denying all patient information to representatives of the media. The men were working around the foundation of the future Children of America building, a child day-care and learning center in the 600 block of West Jubal Early Drive. John Reines, a foreman with Melco Inc., said they were setting a 6-inch pipe through the foundation to feed the building’s sprinkler system. “As far as how all this happened, the only people that know are the two people that were in there,” Reines said, pointing to the hole where they were trapped. The men work for subcontractor John Morrison Excavation, he said. A John Morrison manager at the scene said he could not identify the men unless authorized by his supervisor.

Worker rescued from Lauderdale trench cave-in
BY ASHLEY 
After a massive, 90-minute rescue effort, a construction worker was freed from a sewer trench that collapsed on him Wednesday morning as he worked to lay a new sewer pipe in Fort Lauderdale. The worker, whose name has not been released, apparently suffered a broken ankle, and was taken by ambulance to Broward General Medical Center for treatment. An employee of Miami-based Astaldi Construction, the worker was inside a trench at the 800 block of Northwest Sixth Avenue at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday when mid-morning rain caused the trench to cave in, trapping him, said Fire Rescue Battalion Chief William Findlan. He tried to push the sand back, creating a vacuum that sucked him deeper into the four-foot-deep hole, eventually covering him waist-deep in wet sand. ”It was a bad situation, but he was never in any danger,” said Findlan. “The water wasn’t going to rise above his head. But there was a lot of pressure on his body.” Within five minutes of receiving a 911 call from other construction workers on site, Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue dispatched 21 paramedics and rescue specialists. Fire-Rescue water pumps sucked the water from the trench while a front-end loader dug a deeper hole nearby to help drain the water. ”The pumps and hole helped because for a while the mud would slide back into the trench, which just made our job harder,” Findlan said. Covered in mud and sweating profusely, rescuers hooked up an intravenous line and separately administered nitrous oxide. ”He was in a great deal of pain, so we gave him something to ease that,” said Findlan. When the man was finally pulled from the hole and placed on a stretcher, cheers erupted among emergency workers and a crowd of onlookers. ”He wasn’t saying a whole lot,” said Shawn Levine, a Fire-Rescue paramedic who had been on the scene since the 911 dispatch. “He looked like he was going to be all right though.” Tom McCormick, the program director of the Fort Lauderdale utility unit on the scene said trench collapses are not unusual. Astaldi stopped operations for the day, he added, to emphasize to its workers the importance of following safety rules while performing trench work. ”To be caught by the rain is something that is part of the job,” he said. “We make sure everyone knows the rules and are quick to respond if things look dangerous.” McCormick said he is unsure if there was anything specific the worker could have done to avoid getting trapped. Bobby Day, an Astaldi construction worker who witnessed the accident, said he and his co-workers fear accidents like this. ”You wake up every morning and hope that it doesn’t happen and then it happens,” he said. “It was bad. When you come in you’ve got to think, safety first. Always.” 

Worker injured in 401 collision
By Daily News Staff Wednesday, June 11, 2003 – 09:00 
Local News – Eastbound traffic on Highway 401 west of Chatham had to be diverted for much of Tuesday following a two-vehicle collision, which also resulted in injuries to a construction worker. The two eastbound lanes and one westbound lane were closed for seven hours as Chatham-Kent OPP investigated the collision involving a tractor trailer used for hauling garbage from Toronto and a construction truck. Ernest Arsenault, 30, of Acton, had to be extricated by volunteer firefighters after the vehicle he was travelling in was hit, sending it into a ditch. Staff Sgt. Doug Babbitt said Arsenault was part of a five-vehicle crew involved in repainting lines along the highway when the incident occurred shortly after 10:30 a.m. Arsenault, who was taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries, was in a parked 2002 GMC truck owned by Metro Pavement Markings Ltd. of Acton. Robert Joseph Gerencser, 35, of London, was travelling eastbound on the highway in an unloaded 2003 Volvo tractor-trailer, owned by REDTREE Contract Carriers of Etobicoke, when it collided with the construction truck. He was not injured. “I just saw the (vehicle) fly across. I was the first one down to the guy in the truck,” said Joy Laframboise of Amherstburg, who was on her way to Chatham. She said the man, who was suspended upside-down inside the cab, which landed in the median, was conscious, coherent and complaining of neck pain. There was debris from the accident covering approximately 50-100 feet in length and across both lanes and into the centre median. OPP technical traffic collision investigators were at the scene for much of the day. The investigation continues. 

Co-workers free man trapped in trench 
A 22-year-old West Virginia man was injured Tuesday when he was trapped in a ditch on Old National Pike in Donegal Township. Richard Charnock of Valley Grove was taken by helicopter to UPMC-Presbyterian hospital, Pittsburgh, where he was in good condition Tuesday, according to a hospital spokesman. Donegal Township police said Charnock was trapped in the ditch about 10 a.m. while he was installing a sewer line along the road. It was Charnock’s second day on the job with Terra Excavating Inc., which was installing the line for Interstate Trailer Park. Charnock had been removed from the ditch by co-workers before rescue workers arrived. 

Owensboro museum catches fire
Reporter: Casey Stegall
Owensboro, KY June 7 — Firefighters say a roofing company is responsible for a fire at the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art. Bruce’s Tri-State Roofing crew members were using a torch while working on the roof when the fire started around 1:30 Friday afternoon. It quickly consumed the roof of the house connected to the museum. The fire was primarily contained to the attic and roof of the Smith House, which connects to the museum. It took four engine companies and about 30 firefighters to finally get the situation under control. The good news is nobody was hurt, and most of the artifacts were saved. 

Electrocution confirmed in area worker’s death
NEW LONDON — A 30-year-old Hortonville man who died Thursday while working on a highway crew was electrocuted, Outagamie County Coroner Ruth Wulgaert said Friday. An autopsy conducted by a forensic pathologist of the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the cause of death for Kevin Johnson, she said. Staff Sgt. Bob Bekx, of the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department, said police investigators were unable to determine the source of the fatal shock, but concluded the death was not suspicious. Johnson was setting off explosives using an electronic detonator when the mishap occurred at about 10:30 a.m. on County D, about three miles south of New London. 

Spark ignites gasoline in soil near mall; I-40/75 widening work stops; worker burned by eruption
By DON JACOBS, June 11, 2003
Utility work across from West Town Mall in preparation for widening Interstate 40/75 was halted Tuesday after underground gasoline ignited and burned a worker. Flames shot up a 30-feet deep hole about 8 a.m., burning an employee of a Minnesota drilling company. The worker, Matt Alm, was treated at the University of Tennessee Medical Center and released. The flames were the result of sparks from a steel drill bit that struck rock in the hole that is 6 feet in diameter. “They have ceased that work until they find out what’s causing the contamination,” said Chris Jenkins, safety coordinator with the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Jenkins said Tri-State Drilling Inc., was drilling the first of four shafts for steel utility poles at the intersection of Kingston Pike and Buckingham Road when the flames erupted. Kingston Pike near the mall is slated for widening as part of the widening project on I-40/75, Jenkins said. Jenkins was unsure Tuesday how the utility work stoppage would affect the overall widening project. Steve Wilson, manager of the underground storage tank program for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said the work has been halted until “a contractor can analyze the soil to make sure there are no environmental issues.” Soil contaminated with gasoline dug up by the drill was being hauled away Tuesday evening, Wilson said. Flammability readings at the top of the hole after the fire showed the continued presence of gasoline, Wilson said. Because gasoline fumes are heavier than air, Wilson said the flammability reading at the bottom of the 30-feet hole probably would be higher. Wilson said an Exxon gas station used to occupy a corner of the intersection, about 80-feet from where the hole was drilled. The underground gasoline tanks for that station were removed in 1999 and there were no environmental concerns after the removal, he said. But Wilson said the gasoline pocket struck Tuesday would be uphill from where the Exxon gas tanks were in the ground. “At this point, there is a question of where the contamination came from,” Wilson said. Workers covered the hole with plywood and cordoned off the area with plastic, yellow tape until work can resume.

Man injured in laundry-room fire 
Sunday, June 8, 2003 
ENGLEWOOD – A laundry room fire Saturday sent a plumber to the hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, police said. The plumber, whose name was unavailable, was taken to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, said fire Capt. John McLoughlin. The blaze at the office complex at 15 Engle St. was ignited by a spark thrown off by a plumber welding pipes at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Center, McLoughlin said. The blaze was reported at 8:28 a.m. and was called under control about 45 minutes later, McLoughlin said. Englewood was assisted by Tenafly, Fort Lee, and Teaneck firefighters. Although the fire was contained to the laundry room, the office complex was evacuated before firefighters arrived. McLoughlin said the fire caused smoke damage throughout the second and third floors of the building. 

Worker dies in fall 
By Michelle Muellenberg / News Staff Writer Tuesday, June 10, 2003
HUDSON — A Plymouth construction worker died yesterday morning after suffering head injuries from a 23-foot fall at a Central Street work site. Scott Callender, 37, of 104 Brook Road, Plymouth, was taken by helicopter to UMass Memorial Medical Center University Campus in Worcester, where he was pronounced dead, according to Police Chief Richard Braga. Callender worked for Barnes Building and Management Group of South Weymouth. The company declined to comment. Callender and other employees were working on the construction of a metal-framed building at 282 Central St., Braga said. Police received a call about 7 a.m. that a man had fallen. When officers arrived they found Callender lying on the ground with people trying to assist him. “He was not conscious,” Braga said. Callender was working on a metal structure used in roof framing, he said. “Both my department and OSHA are investigating this matter,” Braga said. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration compliance officer was on hand yesterday morning, said Richard Fazzio, OSHA’s area director in Methuen. “It is an ongoing inspection,” he said. Fazzio did not know when the investigation would be complete and said the time varies by case. According to OSHA’s Web site, Barnes Building and Management Group has not been the subject of previous accident or health investigations. 

Trench Collapses, Kills Worker; Man Dies At Scene
POSTED: 12:20 p.m. PDT June 9, 2003
DIAMOND BAR, Calif. — A trench collapsed and buried a worker Monday as crews were building a retaining wall at a gated community in Diamond Bar, authorities said. The man died at the scene of the accident that occurred in the 2600 block of Rocky Trail Road about 8 a.m., said Capt. Mark Savage of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Construction crews were working in the yard of a home when the excavation collapsed upon the man, trapping him, Savage said. Emergency crews, including an Urban Search and Rescue Team, worked to remove the body from the trench. 

Worker dies in Hanscom base accident 
By Stephen Hagan / CNC Staff Writer Saturday, June 7, 2003
BEDFORD — In what local officials from the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office claim was an accident, a construction worker was killed Thursday night at Hanscom Air Field during a re-paving project in the parking lot of the airport’s Civil Air Terminal. Killed was Gardner’s Robert Bourgeois, 43, a worker for the P.J. Keating Co. of Fitchburg. He apparently died when he was crushed by an asphalt grinder, according to Lincoln firefighter Joe Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh said fire officials responded to the emergency call at 9:11 p.m. Thursday. State Police, Lincoln firefighters, Hanscom Air Force Base fire officials and Massport officials responded to the site of the accident, which was located in the town of Lincoln. He said a crew of three was operating the machinery at the time of the accident. They were grinding up the old pavement, said Cavanaugh.. He was found partially under the machinery and he had crushing injuries to his lower extremities and pelvis. He was unconscious when we arrived. Seth Horwitz, press secretary for the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office, said Friday that his office determined the death to be accidental. It was apparently an accident, Horwitz said. There will be no further investigation by our office. Cavanaugh said Bourgeios was being administered CPR and in full cardiac arrest when Lincoln firefighters arrived and was taken by ambulance by paramedics to Emerson Hospital. The emergency helicopter, Boston Med-Flight, had been initially alerted, but according to Cavanaugh, fire officials generally do not use emergency helicopters when victims are suffering a heart attack. Med-Flight operations are based at Hanscom. Cavanaugh said the incident is being investigated by State Police, Massport, and by officials from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He was partially underneath the machine and was being extricated by Hanscom firefighters, said Cavanaugh. Massport spokesman Jose Juves said OSHA officials will investigate the incident and then present their findings to P.J. Keating and state officials. Juves would not speculate on the cause of the accident. It’s too early to tell, he said. The investigation is ongoing. It was a milling machine which grinds old asphalt so a new layer can be applied. Juves said the parking lot project had been underway for the past three weeks and added that because of the accident, work on the project has been halted. 

Worker grievously injured but not critical after fall 
written by MM News – 10 Jun, 2003 
A 55-year-old man suffered grave injuries but is not in danger of dying after he fell from a height of one storey in a construction site at Qormi on Tuesday morning. The police report the man, from Naxxar, was taken to hospital by ambulance and given treatment for his grave but not critical injuries. Duty Magistrate Myiam Hayman is conducting an inquiry, while the Qormi District Police are investigating. 

Worker Killed By Four-Story Fall
June 10, 2003, 11:07 PM EDT
A 22-year-old concrete worker fell four stories to his death through an elevator shaft Tuesday at the site of a new courthouse in the Bronx, officials said. The man, whom officials did not identify, was pouring concrete on the seventh floor of the Criminal Court site when he backed toward the shaft. He fell to the third floor, said Mary Costello, spokeswoman for Bovis Lend Lease, the site’s main contractor. Ilyse Fink, a Buildings Department spokeswoman, said the shaft had the necessary safeguards. She said the worker’s death was “a very, very tragic accident.” No action would be taken against the contractor or site, Fink said. Antonio Martins, a project manager at J & A Concrete, which was working on the project, said the man worked there for about two months. Martins added that the man was single but a “family man.” He would not elaborate. “It’s a tragic accident,” Martins said. “It’s a little rough right now.” 

Construction Accident May Delay I-40/West Hills Interchange
T-Dot Officials say construction on the I-40/West Hills Interchange could be delayed after a construction accident stopped work at Kingston Pike and Buckingham Road. About 8:00 Tuesday morning, workers from Tri-State drilling were installing utility poles when their machinery hit some sort of contaminated material. State agencies are investigating and have halted operations at this site until further notice. A Tri-State employee is being treated for minor burns to his eyes and face.

Explosion shuts I-74
Star report June 11, 2003
Indiana State Police temporarily closed off a portion of I-74 on the Southeastside today after a piece of highway construction equipment struck a gas pipeline and set off an explosion. Police said the accident occurred about 11:30 a.m. west of Post Road. No injuries were reported. However, a 16-mile stretch of I-74 between Ind. 9 and I-465 was closed to traffic until about 1:30 p.m. while emergency workers worked to shut down the gas line. Gas had continued to feed a fire that was centered on the construction equipment, which one neighbor and State Police described as similar to a trenching machine. “At about 300 or 400 feet, you could feel the warmth of the fire,” said Brian Neary, who lives in the 3100 block of South Franklin Road. Neary said the trencher appeared to be a machine being used in the reconstruction of the eastbound lanes of I-74. “They were digging probably four or five feet below the surface level,” he said. Joy Heath, a 79-year-old retiree who lives in the 3100 block of South Franklin Road, said she heard a series of booms punctuated by the loudest blast. “When that explosion happened there wasn’t no mistaking that,” said Heath. “It was big around and solid red, that orangey red. It was solid flames, just solid flames.” She said she called her son for help, but it was a Franklin Township firefighter who came to her door and evacuated her to a safer location a few doors down. Heath, who uses a cane, said she would have driven herself to safety – but the electricity went off and her garage door wouldn’t open for her to use her car. “It was quite scary, yes. The flames were shooting so high in the air it was frightening.” Indiana Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jessica Stevens said she did not know what type of machinery was involved. State Police Sgt. Ray Poole said the gas line was an older line that apparently wasn’t detected by construction workers. Traffic already was restricted to two-way travel on the westbound lanes during the reconstruction. Stevens said westbound traffic was diverted north on Ind. 9 through Greenfield to I-70.

Road Worker Killed
A Madison county road department worker was killed in an accident Tuesday. It happened at the intersection of King Ranch Road and Highway 22 in Canton. Forty-six-year-old Bennie Dent of Jackson was driving a county dump truck filled with gravel when another vehicle reportedly ran a stop sign and hit the dump truck. Dent swerved to avoid the collision, but the dump truck flipped. A co-worker riding with Dent was taken to U.M.C. and later released. 

Worker struck by car in construction zone
STREETSBORO: A state worker was injured Monday night when he was hit by a car in a highway construction zone on state Route 43 in Streetsboro. Robert B. Potopsky, 41, of Strongsville was in stable condition at Cleveland’s MetroHealth Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday. Police said Potopsky, an Ohio Department of Transportation worker, was hit by a Chevrolet Beretta driven by Richard D. Makley of Uniontown. No charges have been filed because the incident is under investigation, police said. Makley, 41, also was injured when his car hit construction equipment. He was in good condition Tuesday at Robinson Memorial Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said. 

Accident in Construction Site Kills One in Beijing
A exhibition hall collapsed at a construction site in Beijing’s Haidian District Wednesday, leavingone dead and four injured. At approximately 6:00 p.m., the steel-structure hall collapsed without warning, burying five builders, one of whom died on the spot. Another three escaped from the collapsed building, accordingto local police. The four injured workers are being treated in a nearby hospital, and the cause of the accident is under investigation. 

Contractor Blames Rain For Building’s Collapse
June 4, 2003
A contractor says heavy rains in recent weeks may have contributed to the collapse of a building that was being renovated on Cleveland’s east side. Three construction workers escaped moments before the building collapsed in a cloud of dust on Monday. The building spewed bricks and lumber into the street and surrounding pedestrian alleys, but no one was injured. Contractor Joe Korfant says the three workers heard the temporary support beams creaking and fled. He speculated that all the rain may have had something to do with the collapse. The National Weather Service measured six and a half inches of rain in Cleveland in May, more than 1.5 inches on Saturday alone. 

Fire Delays Ceremony 
By Marcus Blair TIMES RECORD
SALLISAW — A dedication ceremony was supposed to be held Tuesday for the new Arby’s in Sallisaw, but corporate managers arrived to find the restaurant a dripping, blackened mess. The building sustained heavy smoke and water damage after a fire ignited in a wall and the attic. It will be closed until repairs can be made, District Manager Chris Griffin said. Arby’s was open only nine days before the fire, Griffin said. The company does not yet know how long it will take to rebuild. Thick black smoke already was pouring through the restaurant when Sallisaw firefighters arrived shortly before 7 a.m. They had to use chain saws to rip through the walls and roof to reach the blaze, which was located in wood behind the building’s facade, said Mike Tubbs, Sallisaw fire chief. “It was a slow, smoldering fire,” Tubbs said. “There was not much fire damage, but we had to cut into it and spray it down.” The blaze appeared to be caused by an electrical malfunction near a lighted sign under the south entrance, Tubbs said. Tubbs could not estimate the cost of the damage but said it will be significant. He saw two roof beams and other key structural points that were incinerated. It was the second fire to heavily damage Arby’s since construction began. Workers building the roof were using a propane torch to melt sealant when wood beams caught fire and caused about $10,000 damage, Tubbs said. The damage was much less costly than Tuesday’s fire because the restaurant was incomplete. 

Pompa Bros. owner dies in equipment accident
JIM KINNEY, The Saratogian June 04, 2003 
MIDDLE GROVE – Nelson Pompa, owner of Pompa Bros. Inc., was killed Tuesday evening while using earth-moving equipment at his company’s sand pit on Coy Road, north of Middle Grove. Pompa, 74, lived on Rowland Street in Ballston Spa. Saratoga County Undersheriff Michael Woodcock said Pompa was working on an access road above one of the pits to the back of the property shortly before 5 p.m. The equipment, described as a grade-all, tumbled down a 15-foot embankment onto large rocks. It came to rest upside down, with Pompa trapped in the partially-crushed cab. Woodcock said another worker discovered the accident and called 911 at about 5 p.m. “It is unknown how long Mr. Pompa was there before he was discovered,” Woodcock said. Firefighters from the Middle Grove, Porter Corners and Greenfield Center fire companies responded. They used a bulldozer and a front-end loader to shift the grade-all’s weight enough to give them access to the cab. Then, they used hydraulic cutters to open the cab and remove Pompa. Woodcock said this extrication took 30 to 40 minutes. Albany Medical Center had sent its MedFlight helicopter on the 16-minute trip to MiddleGrove from Albany. The helicopter set down on Coy Road at the entrance to the pit, about 11/2 miles from the accident scene. The medical crew went into the pit to help, but returned at about 7:15, loaded an empty stretcher back into the helicopter and flew off. Woodcock said Saratoga County Coroner Thomas Salvadore pronounced Pompa dead at the scene. His remains were removed to Saratoga Hospital for a post-mortem examination. Woodcock said the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration would investigate the accident. Pompa and three brothers started Pompa Bros. in 1947 as a heavy construction firm. Its last big construction job was building Ballard Road in Wilton in the early 1970s. Pompa moved the company into mining for sand and stone, first on Route 29 in just west of Saratoga Springs. Company headquarters are still at Route 29 and Petrified Sea Gardens Road. Pompa’s son, Ed Pompa, runs the company asphalt plant. His daughter, Mary, works in the firm’s office. The company owns 1,800 acres off Coy Road, about 11/2 miles north of the hamlet of Middle Grove. Pompa has asked the town to rezone the area and allow more quarrying, a move hotly opposed by many neighbors. The issue is still before the town.

Fire erupts at ASU West dorm 
06/03/2003 By NEWS CHANNEL 3 / azfamily.com staff 
A dorm that was under construction at ASU West erupted into fire Monday. Firefighters from the Northwest Valley battled a third-alarm blaze which broke out at an Arizona State University West dorm that was under construction Monday afternoon. About 80 crewmembers fought the fire that reportedly started between the third floor and the attic of the building near 47th Avenue and Thunderbird Road. Four hours after crews quieted the blaze, hot spots and smoke were spotted flaring up from the roof of the structure. An ASU West spokeswoman said she believes a spark from a welding torch may have set off the fire. A Phoenix Fire Department spokesman said crews initially had a hard time getting lines to the structure. Excessive heat and the unstable nature of the building forced fire investigators to switch into defensive mode. Although firefighters were not able to save the dorm building, which was completely destroyed, crews were able to save structures to the north and east of the burned-out building. Those buildings, which make up the Las Casas dormitory are scheduled to open Aug. 15 in time for the return of students. No injuries were reported. 

Worker hurt in fall from ladder; He was helping refurbish a store at the North Hanover Mall
By JOSEPH DEINLEIN For Dispatch/Sunday News 
Tuesday, June 03, 2003 – A medical helicopter flew a man to York Hospital yesterday after he fell 12 feet from a ladder while refurbishing a store at the North Hanover Mall. A crew foreman said Irv Smolko, 50, fell in the former Fashion Bug store about 1:10 p.m. Smolko was listed in stable condition this morning at York Hospital, said a nursing supervisor. He suffered back and facial injuries, said Hanover Fire Commissioner James Roth. Smolko was one of three people in the store, which is being converted to two smaller shops, said foreman Larry Levadnuk. The other two workers were in another area of the store and didn’t see the fall, he said. Reports conflict on exactly what Smolko was doing. Levadnuk said Smolko was installing a water line and was atop a ladder. But mall manager Dirk Brown said Smolko was putting up a wall for Crown American Realty Trust, which owns the North Hanover Mall. “The rest of the accident is under investigation,” Brown said. Hanover Ambulance Captain Bruce Yealy said Smolko fell through a ceiling in the store. He wasn’t sure what the circumstances were. Because of the distance Smolko fell, paramedics called for a helicopter to transport him to York Hospital’s trauma unit, Yealy said. Hanover Police Department and Medic 46 also were dispatched. 

Town Hall fire escape proves safety hazard 
By Susan Nolan
EXETER – A construction worker who fell through a Town Hall fire escape last week was uninjured, said town administrator George Olson. “He was holding on to the rail,” said Olson. “My understanding is that he held on and that there was no injury involved,” said Olson. The fire escape was roped-off immediately after the accident and was later condemned by the fire department. The construction worker was an employee of Target New England, a Wolfeboro company hired to install an elevator in the Town Hall. Olson said an engineer will assess the fire escape next week to decide whether it can be repaired, or whether it needs to be completely replaced, said Olson. In the meantime, the number of visitors to the top two floors of the Town Hall will be limited to 50 at a time, he said, because of fire-safety codes. Town officials roped-off the fire escape shortly after the worker fell through the structure on Thursday, May 22, Assistant Fire Chief Kenneth Berkenbush said Wednesday. Berkenbush said he walked by the Town Hall shortly after the incident and noticed the area in question. He said he evaluated the fire escape and found it to be unsafe. “It had already been roped-off by, I believe, (town maintenance supervisor) Kevin Smart,” said Berkenbush. “The rest of the stairs looked as if they may be in need of repair,” he said. Since it did not meet the life-safety codes, he had no choice but to condemn it, said Berkenbush, who is the town’s fire prevention officer. Funds for the elevator installation – $40,000 – were approved by voters at Town Meeting in 2002. The remainder of the $100,000 cost was raised by the Exeter Arts Committee through private donations and grants. The arts committee uses the second floor of the Town Hall for art exhibitions. Olson said the Exeter Art Association puts on “a variety of shows throughout the year” and that limited access to the art room in the Town Hall will interfere with that activity. “That is going to be a problem,” said Olson. Olson said a rumor that the worker was advised not to file a worker’s compensation form was untrue, as far as he knew. Voters this year approved funding to replace Town Hall furnaces, windows, gutters and downspouts, said Olson. 

Construction worker injured by 1,800 lbs. bucket
6/3/2003 3:20 PM By: Associated Press
(THOMASVILLE) — A Burlington man was critically injured at a construction site when an 1800 lbs. bucket fell on him. Officials say Felix Ortiz was installing new sewer lines for the area on Monday as part of a crew with Carl Norris Construction of Burlington. A worker noticed that a bucket had swung loose from an excavator and was falling into the trench. Ortiz was unable to move out of the way, and the bucket hit him in the head, fell onto his legs and pinned him in the trench. When EMS workers arrived, the construction crew had lifted the bucket off Ortiz, but rescuers weren’t able to remove him without the trench collapsing. Rescuers spent two hours bracing the trench before Ortiz could be removed. Ortiz was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. Rescue workers say he had injuries to his head and both legs, including a fracture near his ankle. 

Amish Worker Killed
(Smicksburg-AP) June 3, 2003 — Officials say a 22-year-old Amish man working on a house demolition project was killed when a window he was trying to remove broke loose. The Indiana County Deputy Coroner says the man fell about 16 feet to the ground and the window crashed on top of him. The man died Saturday. Deputy coroner Michael Baker won’t release the man’s name because his family raised religious objections. But Baker says he was from the Smicksburg area, where many Amish families live. 

Worker found dead after trench collapses
Associated Press
RIO GRANDE CITY — A 24-year-old worker installing water lines died after the trench he was in collapsed, trapping him under an 8-foot-deep pile of dirt and rock for nearly 10 hours. Noe Cepeda Vela was alone in the trench along U.S. 83 just east of Rio Grande City when the 10-foot-high walls collapsed about 3 p.m. today, authorities said. His co-workers called 911. Justice of the Peace Dela Cruz pronounced Vela dead at about 7:15 p.m, after the body was unearthed enough for paramedics to check for vital signs. Crews with the Starr County Sheriff’s Department and the Rio Grande City Fire Department finally pulled Vela from the rubble about 11:30 p.m. Monday. The search was delayed while rescuers tried to reinforce the trench walls to prevent them from collapsing again. Vela, of Rio Grande City, was working for MF Site Construction when the trench collapsed. MF Site Construction did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press. Rio Grande City is 70 miles northwest of Harlingen. 

Construction worker dies after fall
June 3, 2003 
A 60-year-old construction worker died Monday afternoon after falling two stories from a ledge at a construction site on Hungerford Drive in Rockville, county and city officials said. The man, Jose Francisco Reyes of Langley Park, would have turned 61 Saturday. He was installing a safety rail when he lost his footing and fell onto a concrete floor below, Rockville Police Chief Terrance N. Treschuk said. Work was temporarily halted at the site of Archstone at Rockville Town Center, a 221-unit rental complex just south of the new Giant grocery store and Rockville City Centre shopping plaza. Reyes was declared dead at the scene after suffering massive head trauma, county police spokesman Officer Derek Baliles said. Officials with the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health division are investigating the incident, Baliles said, but county homicide detectives have determined “there does not appear to be anything suspicious.” Bethesda-based Clark Construction is the general contractor for the project, said Jim Wasilak, chief of long-range planning for the City of Rockville. A spokeswoman for Clarke Construction did not return a call Tuesday.

Trench collapses, buries construction worker; Emergency teams on scene into the evening
By Shanna McCord and Moshay Simpson UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS May 29, 2003
RAMONA – A construction worker apparently suffocated yesterday afternoon when a trench collapsed and buried him while he was working on a sewer line, authorities said. The accident happened about 2 p.m. on a vacant lot between two homes on 11th Street near San Vicente Road. Rescue crews from the California Department of Forestry and the Santee Fire Department late yesterday were hoping to find the man alive. All of the digging was being done by hand, CDF Capt. Tom MacPherson said. “We’ve been filling up little buckets.” The man’s body was recovered around 9 p.m. The victim, an employee of Waples Backhoe, was with a crew digging a sewer line that is to extend from 11th Street to 10th Street, McPherson said. The trench is 14 feet deep. A representative from the Ramona Municipal Water District said the contractor had recently obtained the permits to begin construction on the line that is to join the public sewer system. The private line is being built to district standards,” said Tom Brammel, a spokesman for the district. A boy, 13, walking home from Olive Pierce Middle School said he saw “a bunch of cops, a few fire trucks and ambulances and a bunch of people trying to calm” a woman at the scene. Other agencies involved in the attempted rescue included the Ramona Fire Department, the Sheriff’s Department and a crisis management team from Poway. 

Multiple Car Accident Closes I-80
Des Moines, May 29, 2003 – A multiple car accident on Interstate 80 shut down part of the roadway overnight. It happened just before midnight near the 2nd Avenue exit on eastbound I-80. A silver car hit a white truck that was painting in a construction zone, starting a fire. Another motorist stopped to help put the fire out. That’s when a passing semi veered to the side of the road, hitting one of the drivers. Two people went to a local hospital, one is in serious condition. Their names have not been released. In 2003, there have been a total of two workzone deaths in Iowa. The Iowa Department of Transportation says two years ago, they recorded eight deaths in just one month. In that same year, there were 327 workzone accidents across the state.

UPDATE Hydro One Network Services Inc. fined $100,000 for health and safety violation
TORONTO, May 29 /CNW/ – Hydro One Network Services Inc., a Toronto-based company which provides maintenance, repair and operational services to Hydro One Networks Inc., an electricity transmission and distribution subsidiary of Hydro One Inc., was fined $100,000 on May 27, 2003 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in serious burns to two employees. On October 11, 2001, two construction workers were taking measurements and verifying positions of parts they were making at a Toronto transformer substation when a metal measuring tape being used by one of the workers came in contact with energized equipment. The worker suffered burns to the right bicep area, the arms, hands, face and neck. The second worker suffered flash burns to the eyes and a temporary loss of vision. At the time of the incident, the first worker was on a scaffold platform and the second worker was on a ladder leading up to the scaffold platform. One end of the scaffold was located 1.5 metres (five feet) away from the energized equipment. The workers had been fabricating a framework for a wall that was to be used to extend the walls between transformer bays at the transformer substation, which was owned by Hydro One Networks Inc. at 83 Charles Street in Toronto. Hydro One Network Services Inc. pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to ensure that tools, ladders, scaffolding and other equipment and materials capable of conducting electricity were not stored or used so close to an energized electrical installation, equipment or conductor that they could make electrical contact with an energized conductor, as required by Section 194 of the Regulations for Construction Projects. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(c) of the act. The fine was imposed by Justice Robert Bigelow of the Ontario Court of Justice at Old City Hall in Toronto. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. 

Fire damages Courier-Journal printing plant project
A portion of The Courier-Journal’s $80 million printing plant, which is still under construction, caught fire this morning. No one was injured in the fire, according to Linda Pursell, vice president of market development. Details of damage from the fire are not yet available. Pursell said the fire that was caused when sparks from a grinder ignited insulation in the roof. The grinding was being done by a worker with Lykins Steel, a subcontractor for Louisville-based Messer Construction Co. Fire department units, which arrived just after 9 a.m., were called to extinguish the fire after workers tried to put out the fire with extinguishers but were unable to contain the blaze, she said. Pursell said it is too soon to say whether the fire will affect the timetable for the project. She added that all damages will be covered by insurance. The new printing plant, an $80 million project that includes about $17 million in construction costs, is expected to be in operation by September 2004. The project includes building a multistory facility with more than 500,000 square feet. It will house the newspaper’s new printing presses. 

UPDATE Lorry driver died in lifting operation accident
An inquest jury at Hexham Magistrates’ Court has returned a verdict of accidental death after listening to evidence describing a lifting operation in July 2002 that ended the life of lorry driver Marc Channon, 31, in an accident. Mr Channon, an employee of Dowse Crane Hire of North Durham, was delivering a portacabin to a Northumberland construction site, but during the lifting and slinging operation the chains supporting the portacabin broke free from the crane lifting hook and fell on him inflicting such injuries that he died at the scene. 

UPDATE High Court compensation award for roof fall victim
Peter Bieliauskas, 51, has been awarded more than £1,000,000 at the High Court in compensation for his loss resulting from injuries sustained in a roof fall during August 2000 at his Midlands employer’s boat building premises in Stoke Prior. His brain injury has placed severe limitations on his life. Mr Bieliauskas had been inspecting the roof when he fell through a skylight. Previously, employers J L Pinder and Sons were prosecuted for breaching S.2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company operated without employers’ liability insurance and ultimately its landlord’s insurance company met the settlement without liability being admitted.

Lorry driver ’caused worker’s death’ 
TWO construction workers employed by SembCorp Engineers and Construction have died because of negligence at their workplace. It was reported just last week that one of them had died when he fell off the scaffolding early this year. Now, an inquiry has found that another SembCorp Engineers worker had died on May 16 last year because of a lorry driver’s negligence. The man who died had fallen from a lorry and was then crushed by a beam that fell off the vehicle. State Coroner John Ng blamed lorry driver Lim Kok Chye, 44, for causing the death of Intahjina Kittichai, 43, because he had failed to secure the beams to the lorry. Mr Lim is a sub-contractor and not a SembCorp employee. The lorry was moving the beams to a location within the Ponggol-Sengkang light rail transport construction site, when the beams started sliding off the vehicle on a slope. As a result, Mr Intahjina lost his balance and fell to the ground. Then one of the beams landed on him. A crane was brought in to lift the beam from Mr Intahjina. H e was later pronounced dead at the scene from multiple injuries. At the coroner’s court last week, Mr Lim, elected to remain silent in his defence. Said Mr Ng: ‘The cause of the accident was the failure to secure the beams to the lorry. ‘The question is who had the responsibility of ensuring that the beams were secured to the lorry.’ A Manpower Ministry spokesman said that the ministry’s investigations revealed that no lifting supervisor was appointed to check that the beams were lifted safely. And for that, SembCorp Engineers was fined $1,000. The company was fined $100,000 earlier this month for their second offence under the Factories Regulations. It had failed to provide a ladder for workers to reach platforms and this resulted in the death of Mr Yang Jin Mei, 41, a Chinese national, on Jan 14. 

Tractor-Trailer Knocks Road Worker Off Repair Truck; 35-Year-Old Man In Critical Condition
May 28, 2003
A tractor-trailer reportedly crashed into an Oakland County Road Commission repair truck early Wednesday morning, knocking a worker who was fixing a traffic light to the ground. The 35-year-old Grand Blanc, Mich., man and his coworker were repairing a traffic light at Long Lake and Beach roads around midnight when the accident occurred, according to police. They were parked along the shoulder and had the boom of the repair truck over the road while they worked on the light, police said. The light had reportedly been damaged earlier in the evening from another accident. The workers were completing the repairs when the tractor-trailer heading east on Long Lake Road struck the bucket on the end of the boom, and knocked the 35-year-old worker to the ground. The victim was taken to Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital where he was listed in critical condition. His family has been notified, but his name has not been released. The driver of the tractor-trailer, a 48-year-old Ontario man, was questioned and released, according to police. Police continue to investigate. They said alcohol was not involved in the crash. 

UPDATE Flagger dies; driver charged 
By Greg Stanmar Pantagraph correspondent 
OTTAWA — A Streator man faces reckless homicide charges following the death of a road-construction worker he is accused of hitting with his vehicle. Douglas Black, 25, was charged with reckless homicide on Tuesday. He already faced two counts of aggravated driving under the influence along with single charges of driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license, driving under the influence on a revoked license and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, LaSalle County authorities said. John Crozier, 40, also of Streator, died Monday at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Police said Black was driving under the influence of alcohol when he passed cars stopped at a highway construction site May 21 on Illinois 23 north of Streator. Black’s car reportedly hit Crozier, who was working as a flagman. Crozier was then flown to the Peoria hospital. Crozier had been a flagman for 10 years and was working his first day on the Illinois 23 project, said Tim Roseberry, spokesman for the Laborers International Union of North America. Crozier’s obituary is on Page A8.

Construction worker hurt as backhoe overturns at Pronghorn Resort; Operator was wearing seat belt and was not seriously injured
From bend.com news sources 
May 27 – A 43-year-old Terrebonne man was flown to a Bend hospital, but avoided serious injuries when his backhoe rolled onto its side Tuesday during construction work at the Pronghorn Resort between Bend and Redmond, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said. Deputies, Redmond fire crews and Air Life of Oregon responded shortly before 11 a.m. to the reported injury accident. Michael Matheny, a worker with Hap Taylor & Sons Construction, had been back-filling around a pressure-reducing valve station when the edge of the dirt gave way and the backhoe rolled onto its side, hitting the cinder-block structure, said sheriff’s Sgt. Dan Swearingen. Matheny was wearing a seat belt at the time, and was able to crawl out of the John Deere backhoe and walk a few feet away before needing assistance, Swearingen said. When officials arrived, members of the construction crew were helping the victim. An Air Life helicopter landed a short time later. Flight medics assessed the patient and, with the aid of Redmond fire-parameics, the man was placed on the chopper for the flight to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. A nursing supervisor said he was treated for minor injuries and released. 

Construction workers hurt in blast; Explosion forces evacuation of homes 
By Peggy Breister the reporter 
A natural gas explosion and fire Tuesday afternoon in the Town of Taycheedah sent two Green Bay construction workers to the hospital and forced an evacuation of several homes in a nearby subdivision. The men, Todd C. Degeneffe, 35, of Green Bay and James S. Herman, 54, of Gillett work for Ronet Construction of Green Bay. They were transported by Mount Calvary Ambulance and Fond du Lac Fire Department Ambulance to St. Agnes Hospital with significant burns, said Lt. Rick Olig of the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department. Both men were listed in fair condition this morning at St. Agnes Hospital. A back hoe operated by an employee of the sewer utility company struck and broke a 2-inch gas main about 1 p.m. on Abler Road near Park Ridge Court, Olig said. The company is installing a new sanitary sewer line for St. Peter Sanitary District. Ronet is a subcontractor working for the project’s main contractor, Kruczek of Green Bay. “As construction workers at ground level were attempting to clamp it off, the gas ignit ed and there was an explosion,” Olig said. Two other workers in the trench were not injured. About 120 homes were without natural gas for about two hours while the line was repaired by Alliant Energy crews. When Town of Calumet firefighters arrived, flames were leaping 8 to 10 feet out of the four-foot wide by 12-foot deep trench, said Fire Chief Lee Gilgenbach. The injured men had already been removed, he said. “From our standpoint, the gas flames coming out of the trench were a good thing because then we know exactly where the gas is coming from,” Gilgenbach said. “If it hadn’t touched off and started on fire, we’d never know where the gas is and then any little spark anywhere could start an explosion,” he said. “The two individuals in the trench that were injured were unlucky. We were lucky because we were able to identify the source.” Firefighters were on the scene until about 3:30 p.m. Gilgenbach said he doesn’t know what ignited the gas from the line that was about 30 inches below ground. “It could be something very little, next to nothing,” he said. Town of Calumet was assisted by Mount Calvary firefighters. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is expected to inspect the site today and investigate the accident. 

Construction Accident
The soggy ground is to blame for an accident that sent a crane truck into a Henrico home Tuesday. It happened while workers were taking down tree limbs in front of the house. A jack that supports the truck sunk into the mud, sending the truck onto its side. It clipped a portion of the house. No one was home at the time.

Torch gets blame for fire at Target; Tuesday night blaze damages Fort Gratiot store
By LORI PAIONK Times Herald 
FORT GRATIOT — Months of renovation work at the Target store in Birchwood Mall was days away from completion when sparks from a torch touched off a blaze inside the walls Tuesday night. A contractor using an acetylene torch to cut a steel beam at about 10:45 p.m. accidentally ignited insulation within the store’s front wall. No one was injured. The store was closed when the fire began. A cleaning crew was evacuated by the contractors. A store manager on scene declined to comment on when the store would reopen. Birchwood Mall security officer Ryan Roberts said some smoke escaped into the mall, which will be open today. He said he wasn’t sure if, or when, Target would reopen. It was unclear how much Target merchandise was ruined because of fire, smoke or water. Through the front glass doors, witnesses could see white smoke filling the interior. “I don’t know how much smoke made it in, but it wouldn’t take much (to do damage),” said Lt. Jim DeLacy of the St. Clair County Sheriff Department. He said the fire was difficult to extinguish because flames spread easily through wall insulation. Fort Gratiot Fire Chief Ron Nichols was not available for comment at the scene. Firefighters from Fort Gratiot and Burtchville townships remained on the scene after 1 a.m. Ironworker Dave Zimmerman of Kimball Township was using a torch on the outside of the store’s front exterior to cut a beam for a renovation project. A spark must have flown under a fire-proof blanket spread on the wall, he said. “I moved the blanket and knocked out the wall out to check (the smoke) and I couldn’t get back there to put it out,” said Zimmerman, who works for Dietzel Co. of Fraser. Construction supervisor Tom Dea said renovations on the store front began in January and workers were almost finished. “This was it — two more days,” said Dea of Gioffre Companies in Dublin, Ohio. 

Roof work may have started fire that damaged storage units
By Deanna Boyd Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Workers doing roof repair may have sparked a fire Thursday morning at a storage unit warehouse in Burleson, officials said. The fire started about 8:40 a.m. in one of the storage units at the U-Haul Storage Warehouse, 2121 S. Burleson Blvd. The flames spread, damaging three other large units or about a third of the building, said Burleson police Sgt. Cindy Aaron. “There were some workers on the roof repairing some damage from the February ice storm,” Aaron said. “They were welding and the hot metal dripped down into the building. They think that’s what started the fire.” The service road of Interstate 35 was shut down to make room for responding water tanks and after reports were received that some of the storage buildings may have contained nitrous oxide and ammunition, Aaron said. Firefighters from Alvarado, Briaroaks, Crowley, Joshua, Keene, Rendon and the Tarrant County Fire District assisted the Burleson Fire Department in putting out the two-alarm fire. “The Cleburne Fire Department covered our city while our units were tied up out there,” Aaron said. A Briaroaks firefighter was treated at the scene for exhaustion. A worker at the facility had an asthma attack at the scene but did not require hospitalization, she said. The fire was contained about 11 a.m., but crews remained on the scene throughout the day putting out flare-ups. Construction crews were called out to raze the burned units, Aaron said. No damage estimates were available Thursday. 

Construction worker in critical condition; Flagger, 32, was hit Thursday near Ottawa 
May 24, 2003 By KRIS WERNOWSKY of the Journal Star
OTTAWA – A construction site flagger who was hit by a car Thursday near Ottawa was in critical condition Friday at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. John Crozier, 32, of Streator was taken to Community Hospital after the accident and transferred Thursday night to St. Francis. The accident prompted an appeal from the Illinois Department of Transportation for motorists to use caution. “You just have to ask yourself why? Why this happens?” IDOT Secretary Tim Martin said in a news release. “And I’m often frustrated when I find out tragedies like this can be avoided if people would just slow down and use caution in and around construction zones.” Authorities say the driver of the car that hit Crozier was Douglas Black, 29, of Streator. Black appeared Friday in LaSalle County Circuit Court, where he was charged with two felony counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol. One count charges Black with striking Crozier, said LaSalle County State’s Attorney Joe Hettel. The other charges him with driving while on a revoked license from a 2002 drunken-driving incident in Grundy County. Black also was charged with driving on a revoked license and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, both misdemeanors, Hettel said. He was being held Friday in the LaSalle County Jail on $300,000 bond. Hettel said Black could face additional charges because three children were in the car at the time of the accident. His case is to be brought before a LaSalle County grand jury on June 4. Authorities say Crozier was hit at about 11:30 a.m. Thursday in a construction zone at Illinois Route 23 and Fosse Road south of Ottawa. Black was driving in the northbound lane when he noticed traffic was stopped for construction. He then drove his car into the closed lane and hit a dump truck, according to the LaSalle County Sheriff’s Department. The impact pushed his car back into the northbound lane. His car then slid off the road and struck Crozier, police said. Crozier, an employee with Advanced Asphalt, is a member of Ottawa Laborers Local 911 of the Laborers International Union of North America. “Our prayers and thoughts go out to our brother’s family,” Ed Smith, vice president and regional manager of the international, said in a news release. “Every year, thousands of workers and motorists are killed despite our efforts to keep construction work zones safe.” IDOT said construction will be suspended and lanes will be opened where possible to help motorists get around during the Memorial Day weekend.

Falling beam injures worker
By Martin B. Cassidy Staff Writer May 24, 2003
A construction worker was seriously injured yesterday at an East Elm Street construction site when he was struck by a steel beam knocked over by a bucket loading machine, according to Lt. Mark Kordick of the Greenwich Police Department. Authorities did not identify the injured man, pending notification of his family. The accident occurred shortly after 10 a.m., while the worker was in the foundation of the site at 96 E. Elm St. A bucket loader had just poured stones into the foundation and knocked over an unsecured 34-foot metal beam which fell on the man, striking his head and neck, Kordick said. The injured man was trapped by the beam, but workers lifted it off him before authorities arrived, according to Fire Chief Daniel Warzoha. Greenwich police officers and Greenwich Fire Department technical rescue teams removed the man from the foundation. Warzoha said the victim was fitted with a neck brace because of the apparent seriousness of his injuries. The Greenwich Emergency Medical Service transported the victim to the Trauma Center at Stamford Hospital, Kordick said. He said the man was badly injured. The name of the excavating company operating the bucket loader was unavailable yesterday afternoon. Calls to Albert Orlando, the owner and developer of the property, where a two-family house is being built, were not returned yesterday. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration yesterday began investigating the accident to see if there were any federal safety regulation violations on the site, and interviewed the owner of the property and the contractor, according to Kang Yi, supervisor of the Bridgeport OSHA office. “We’re going to find out how it happened,” Yi said. No police report was available yesterday and no further details were released. 

Ulsterman dies in New York accident 
A Co Down man has died after a fall in Brooklyn, New York. Lee Keenan, 27, who hailed from Mayobridge, died after falling six stories from a scaffolding at a residential building in Brooklyn on Saturday May 17, New York police said. “Mr Keenan appeared to have slipped,” said Detective Mike Wokowski, at the 83rd precinct in Brooklyn. “Mr Keenan fell six stories from a scaffolding on Central Avenue and Noll street in Brooklyn at 8:15am. The medical examiner pronounced him dead on arrival at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn. Mr Keenan, who was a construction worker for Hickey Construction, lived in the Irish neighbourhood of Maspeth in Queens. His funeral took place in Queens on Monday and the body arrived in Ireland on Tuesday. Relatives had flown to New York to claim the body. The family will be making arrangements to have him buried closer to home. Mr Keenan was well known in the Irish community, said John Guiney a local footballer. New York police have concluded the incident was an accident but an investigation into the safety on the site is continuing. The Department of Buildings Inspectors has visited the site. Hickey Construction was unavailable for comment.

Pipes fall off trailer, kill worker
LODGEPOLE — A construction worker from Hays died after an accident at a gravel site two miles north of here, Fort Belknap Police Chief Rob Williams said. James Robert Essert, 52, died early Thursday when a stack of large pipes fell off a trailer and killed him, officials said. Officials said Essert, a former bus driver at the St. Paul’s Mission School in Hays, recently began working with the construction crew contracted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Roads Department. Foul play isn’t suspected but Essert’s body was sent to Billings for an autopsy. The Fort Belknap Criminal Investigation Department and the Blaine County Coroner’s Office are investigating the death. 

Road worker hit at construction site
STREATOR — A Streator construction worker struck by a car while controlling traffic remained in critical condition Friday night. John Cozier, 40, was flown to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria after the accident at noon Thursday on Illinois 23 between Streator and Ottawa. Authorities said a drunken driver struck the Advanced Asphalt employee, throwing him into a field. Douglas Black, 25, of Streator, was charged with aggravated drunken driving, driving while his license is revoked and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. He remained in LaSalle County jail Friday night in lieu of posting $3,000. 

UPDATE Woman Who Ran Down Highway Worker Draws Two Year Sentence 
A woman who was drunk when she plowed into a road construction site and killed a 32-year-old father of five was sentenced to two years in prison on Friday. On May 14, 2002, 24-year-old Tanzania Jackson swerved into a coned-off area on Northrop Avenue in Sacramento, striking Jim Bridges Junior. Bridges was seriously injured, lingering for 12 days in the hospital before passing away. Jackson could have been sentenced to up to four years in prison, but a plea bargain reduced that time to two years. Jim Bridges’ friends and family were in court, wearing orange road crew vests in his honor. His sister said today’s sentencing brings with it an important message for all motorists. “If you’ve been somewhere and you’ve been drinking, call somebody for a ride,” said Donna Patterson. “Don’t just get into a car. You don’t only kill the person, you kill their entire family.” Before she was handcuffed and taken from the courtroom, Jackson made a brief statement, saying she was sorry for the pain she has caused her victim’s family. Following sentencing, Jackson was taken to the women’s prison in Chowchilla to begin serving her sentence. 

Bulldozer accident claims life 
By ANDREW PERALA/West Hawaii Today
A 37 – year – old Honaunau man died Friday afternoon when the bulldozer he’d been driving ran over him, police said. Jesse Young, an experienced heavy – equipment operator, had been clearing a sloping, three – acre lot in Makalei Estates off Mamalahoa Highway when he somehow fell beneath the 17,000 – pound machine. The 3:43 p.m. accident likely killed him instantly, a police spokesman said. Funeral arrangements are pending, as police investigate the sequence of events resulting in Young’s death. The home lot had a steep slope on the upper end that Young had bladed smooth earlier. Young may have been walking the land when the Caterpillar D4H bulldozer suddenly took off in reverse, “but we may never know,” a police spokesman said. Unmanned, the bulldozer continued running in reverse, police said. About 125 feet after running over Young, the bulldozer’s right – corner blade clipped the left post of an electrical box before crossing the subdivision’s main street and climbed up and over the road’s rain gutter. Then, tipping backward at an angle down a steep embankment, the bulldozer crashed through a six – foot tall chainlink fence surrounding a 15,000 – gallon water tank, police said. The bulldozer missed the tank by about 30 feet, according to measurements of the tracks. The fence, uncut though damaged beyond repair, leashed the runaway bulldozer, police said. Entangled in the bulldozer’s undercarriage, the more than 100 feet of fence and concrete – embedded posts swung the bulldozer uphill until it ground to a halt. The bulldozer had traveled more than 300 feet without its driver, police said. Police found Young’s ballcap about 50 feet and his cellphone 25 feet upslope from his body. A police spokesman confirmed Young had severe leg injuries, as well as massive trauma to the rest of his body. Young was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where he ws pronouced dead. An autopsy has been scheduled to determine the exact cause of death, police said.