Construction Accidents Page 8

Construction Accidents Page #8

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

4th Grand Strand construction worker dies since Dec.
(Myrtle Beach-AP) July 16, 2003 – A construction worker has died after falling about 40 feet from the roof of a building in Horry County. Horry County Coroner Robert Edge said 41-year-old Alfonso Morales of Loris died Tuesday afternoon. Morales is the fourth worker to die in a construction-related accident on the Grand Strand since December. Last year there were 27 construction-related deaths in South Carolina, according to the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The most common causes of construction deaths in South Carolina are falls, being struck by an object and electrocution. 

Man burned as drill hits power vault
By STAFF WRITER
ALAMEDA — A subcontractor who accidentally drilled into a power vault at Alameda Point sustained critical third-degree burns Tuesday morning, Alameda officials said. The Stockton man was airlifted to Eden Valley Medical Center in Castro Valley and later transferred to the burn unit at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition Tuesday night, city officials said. “Apparently the burns are really, really bad,” said Deputy Fire Chief Steve Jones. The 28-year-old man, whose name wasn’t released, was severely burned on both hands, on at least one side of his body, and on one foot. Witnesses started CPR, and an emergency helicopter arrived within five minutes of the accident, Jones said. Charles Sanford, owner of Charles B. Sanford Construction, said his employee accidentally drilled into a 12-kilovolt primary distribution circuit serving the area. He was trenching to install telephone equipment, city officials said. The worker started work with Charles B. Sanford Construction in Winton on Monday, Sanford said. Sanford said he is a friend of his sons. “I believe that unfortunately it was an accident,” said Sanford. “He was operating a drill, which doesn’t require much safety training.” Sanford said the area had been checked by two groups who tested for, but did not locate, the circuit. Matt McCabe, a spokesman for Alameda Power & Telecom, which operates and maintains the electrical system that was drilled into, said the incident occurred 11:30 a.m. on West Ranger Avenue. The distribution circuit was installed initially by the U.S. Navy to serve portions of the former Alameda Naval Air Station. Sanford Construction is a subcontractor to Mobile Modular. The company is retained to install temporary facilities to house a Head Start project being run by the Alameda Point Collaborative. The incident resulted in an electrical outage to approximately 300 customers. Alameda Power & Telecom crews restored power within an hour.

UPDATE Condition Of Worker Injured In Hit-And-Run Improves; Former Local Weatherman Charged In Crash
POSTED: 5:13 p.m. EDT July 15, 2003
CLEVELAND — A construction worker injured last week in a hit-and-run crash is now in good condition. NewsChannel5 reported that Brad Davis, 20, was hit while working on Interstate 480 near the Jennings Freeway. Another worker was slightly hurt but was treated and released. Police said former Cleveland weather forecaster David Rogers was allegedly behind the wheel. Rogers has been charged with two counts of aggravated vehicular assault and leaving the scene of an accident. 

Construction accident at new bridge injures worker
By BLAKE NICHOLSON, Associated Press Writer 
A Texas man working on the new Four Bears Bridge west of New Town was seriously injured in a crane accident, officials say. Ballwin, Mo.-based Fru-Con Construction Corp. said the worker was injured June 26 when he was hit and knocked to the ground when a track on a crane came loose while a piece of equipment was being moved. The worker was airlifted to a Minot hospital and later taken to a hospital in Texas, Fru-Con spokesman Cam Green said Tuesday. Green said the company is not identifying the man and not releasing information on his injuries. “He is recovering,” Green said. He said the cause of the incident is still being investigated, “and will be for some time.” “We know how it happened; we don’t know why it happened,” Green said. Bruce Beelman, area director in Bismarck for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the agency is investigating the incident. “It takes time to interview employees,” he said. “It’s just unpredictable as far as how long it can take as far as getting all the information we need to get to make a decision.” Paul Braun, a spokesman for the North Dakota Department of Transportation, said the state is referring all questions to Fru-Con. Construction of the new $55 million bridge got under way in May and is scheduled to be done by the fall of 2004. The mile-long bridge is replacing a structure that has been deemed too narrow for modern traffic. It is being financed with state and federal funds. The bridge will have two 12-foot-wide driving lanes with 8-foot-wide shoulders, and a 10-foot-wide walkway. The current bridge is only about 20 feet wide. 

Construction worker injured near Denver Athletic Club
Written By: Susan Wells 
DENVER – A city public works employee was seriously injured Tuesday after a roto mill construction machine ran him over. The accident happened around 11:15 a.m. at 14th and Glenarm in front of the Denver Athletic Club. The victim was transported to Denver Health Medical Center. Police officers on the scene say he was breathing but was seriously injured. A roto mill is a machine that picks up concrete and grinds it. The crew was working on Glenarm from Colfax to 15th St. milling, or taking up the old pavement. 

Ditch cave-in claims worker; Limestone man killed; probe under way 
Tamara Sharman , The Daily Journal July 15, 2003 
Emergency personnel labored for more than seven hours to free the body of a young worker who became entombed when a ditch collapsed at the Kankakee Roper plant Monday. “Almost always these cases are asphyxia cases,” Kankakee County Coroner James Kelly said. “I think that he died very quickly, probably within minutes,” Kelly stated. An autopsy will be performed today, but Kelly expects the results will confirm that Barber asphyxiated when his body was compressed by the heavy, wet clay. OSHA is investigating the incident. At presstime it was unclear whom Barber was working for at the time of the deadly accident. But he was part of a crew that was tending to a leaking water or sewer pipe beneath the floor at the plant at 2207 W. Court St. The workers had removed concrete and dug a trench approximately eight to 10 feet deep, three feet wide and 12 feet long. “It appears that they did not shore the trench at all,” Kelly said of the workers. Barber was trapped when the trench collapsed. “He was 90 percent buried,” recalled Assistant Chief Ron Young of the Kankakee Fire Department. Firefighters were summoned to the old factory at 1:22 p.m. and arrived four minutes later, Capt. David Harmon said. Help also came from the Kankakee County Tactical Rescue Team, which consists of firefighters from area departments. Barber’s co-workers tried unsuccessfully to save him. The initial rescue efforts by Kankakee police and Kankakee firefighters also failed. Rescue workers were at risk from further collapse of the unstable trench, Harmon said. A concrete slab was then cut away and the sides of the trench were shored up to stabilize the area, according to firefighters. Then came the hours-long effort to free Barber. “It’s a very tedious, time-consuming effort,” Young said. The accident highlights the dangers inherent in trench labor. “An unprotected trench can collapse in under a second,” Harmon noted. Emergency personnel from Aroma Park, Bradley, Bourbonnais, Limestone, Kankakee Township and Limestone Township fire departments assisted. Kankakee County Sheriff’s Police also were at the scene. Young believes the response to the tragic accident shows the ability of area firefighters to work together in times of crisis. “It definitely demonstrates the need to have a well-trained tactical rescue team,” Young said. None of Barber’s co-workers was injured. A firefighter received a minor eye injury. Funeral arrangements for Nathan Barber are pending at the Kankakee chapel of Schreffler Funeral Homes. “Our sympathies and condolences go out to the family of the victim,” Young stated. 

Construction worker injured
7/15/2003 4:45 PM By: Capital News 9 web staff
A construction worker fell 20 feet to the ground in Warren County Tuesday. The county sheriff’s office said Ronald Bauer fell off a roof at a job site on Garnet Lake Road in Johnsburg. Authorities said when Bauer fell, he struck his head on a stone wall on the way down. The 67-year-old Johnsburg man suffered serious head injuries. Paramedics responded to the scene and Bauer was later airlifted to Albany Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition.

Welder electrocuted at Gainesville construction site 
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A welder was apparently electrocuted while working on a metal balcony at a construction site, authorities said. Javier Gonzales, 37, of Norcross, Ga., died in Sunday’s accident, said Sgt. Keith Faulk, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokesman. Workers told authorities that Gonzales, an employee of Allen Steel Products of Arlington, Tenn., was installing a metal subfloor on a balcony using an 8,000 watt welding machine. A co-worker said he left Gonzales to retrieve some material and returned to find him unconscious and not breathing. Workers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until emergency medical workers arrived. Although detectives are awaiting the results of an autopsy, authorities believe he was electrocuted by the welding machine, Faulk said. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating, Faulk said. Associated Press

Construction worker dies in accident
Written By: Susan Wells 
DENVER – A construction worker died after an accident Monday morning on Yosemite just south of the I-225 interchange. An asphalt truck hit and killed a construction worker. Police say it was an accident. A Denver Public Works spokesperson says it was a paving crew of general contractors hired to pave some roads in Denver that was involved. The worker who died was not from the Denver area. We will have more on this story as it becomes available.

Suspected drunk driver critically injures freeway construction worker
ABC13 Eyewitness News
(7/07/03 – HOUSTON) — A man faces charges of intoxication assault after officials say he hit two construction workers with his car while he was drunk. Sheriff’s deputies say the workers were fixing a drainage pipe on the North Freeway and Louetta Saturday morning when the car hit them. One worker had his leg amputated by the accident and was taken to the hospital. Right now, he’s in critical condition. The other worker only suffered a few scrapes and bruises. 

Norwalk worker remains critical 
KATIE GALLAGHER , Morning Journal Writer 07/12/2003 
CLEVELAND — The Norwalk college student seriously injured by a driver while working on a road project remains hospitalized in critical condition, according to hospital officials. Brad Davis, 20, of Norwalk is listed in critical condition at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, according to the hospital, as a result of the early Thursday morning accident on Interstate 480. Davis and Lake Erie Construction Company co-worker Jeremy Prelipp, 25, of Willard, were reportedly hit by a Land Rover driven by David Rogers, 44, of Orange about 4 a.m. as they repaired a guardrail on I-480 westbound near the I-176 northbound exit, according to Cleveland police reports. Rogers is a weatherman for WCBS-TV in New York City, according to the station. A statement from Lake Erie Construction Company in Norwalk said that MetroHealth doctors have successfully contained internal bleeding from Davis’ spleen following surgery Thursday morning. ”That surgery returned his blood pressure to levels that allowed additional surgery T ursday evening to reset the broken bones in Brad’s legs,” the statement said. Prelipp was treated and released from MetroHealth on Thursday, according to the statement. Lake Erie Construction Company Safety Director Ken Bleile said Prelipp suffered cuts and bruises, had stitches and may have problems with his knee. Bleile said that Prelipp has worked for the company for two or three years. ”We’re hoping that he’s back next week,” Bleile said. ”He’s a pretty tough guy.” Rogers was charged yesterday morning with two counts of aggravated vehicular assault and one count of leaving the scene, according to Detective Nancy Dominik, assistant public information officer for the Cleveland Police Department. Rogers is scheduled to appear in Cleveland Municipal Court today at 8:30 a.m. for his arraignment on the two felony charges, according to police. Judge Robert Triozzi was scheduled to preside over the case, according to Ed Ferenc, public information officer for Cleveland Municipal Court. Don Shantz, 24, of Milan, who was working alongside Davis and Prelipp at the time of the accident, said the six Lake Erie Construction Company employees had only been at that job for 10 or 15 minutes when the accident occurred. The employees were repairing a guardrail on I-480 near I-176 northbound, commonly referred to as the Jennings Freeway split, Shantz said. Shantz said they were clearing debris from the damaged guardrail when he heard tires squealing and a co-worker shout, ”Get out of the way!” Shantz looked up and saw a car driving alongside the workers on the gravel berm, he said. The car drove along the berm for about 500 feet, according to Shantz, before returning to the road. Shantz then realized that his co-workers had been injured, he said. Prelipp was limping and Davis was lying on the ground, Shantz said. His three other co-workers were assessing the situation, he said. Shantz quickly climbed into a company vehicle and chased after the driver along I-480. ”I had two guys laying on the ground hurt, and I didn’t wnt him to take anyone else out,” he said. Shantz caught up with the driver about one mile away from the scene of the accident, he said. He found the Land Rover off on the berm on I-480 near State Road, according to police reports. Shantz noticed damage to the right side of the vehicle and that the car had a flat tire, he said. ”He was unaware that he even hit anybody,” Shantz said of the driver. ”He didn’t seem to know what was going on.” Shantz said he wrote down the vehicle’s license plate number and waited with the driver for police to arrive. ”It’s terrible that this had to happen to anybody,” Shantz said. Shantz said that Davis has been working with the company since May on summer vacation from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. ”He’s a good kid. He really is,” Shantz said. ”He’s innocent. Just out there trying to make money for school.” Bleile said that Davis’ father, Don, has worked for Lake Erie Construction Company for 25 years. ”Our focal point should be on him because he’s in the hospital,” Shantz said of younger Davis. ”It could have been avoided and it should have been avoided.” In Shantz’s five years working for Lake Erie Construction, this is his first encounter with this type of accident, although he has seen cars hit cones before, he said. ”People don’t pay attention to what’s going on,” he said of highway drivers in construction zones. Shantz said that the workers have their backs to traffic about 90 percent of the time. Shantz said this accident is going to open his eyes more. ”Be more cautious on watching your back and watching your surroundings,” he said. ”Watch yourself and watch your co-workers.” There were 6,808 work zone crashes throughout Ohio in 2002, according to Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) information sheets. Twenty-six of those crashes were fatal. The ODOT information sheets also show that 120 to 130 workers die each year in road construction activities in the United States. Of the fatalities, 23 percent are a result of pedestrian workers being struck by traffic vehicles, according to the information sheets. Paul Wasilewski, ODOT District 12 spokesman said that Lake Erie Construction Company is a subcontractor of Kenmore Construction of Akron for the I-480 reconstruction. Wasilewski said safety procedures for construction zones follow the Federal Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. He said the speed limit in a permanent construction zone is 50 mph. ”If anything, slowing down and paying attention is the message we consistently enforce when traveling through work zones,” he said. Karen Mateo, director of communications for WCBS-TV, said that Rogers is a meteorologist for CBS News in New York. He was in Cleveland this week on vacation, Mateo said. Rogers worked as the chief meteorologist for WKYC-TV3 in Cleveland from 1997 through 2000, according to the CBS New York Web site. A statement from Mateo said that Rogers will not appear on the station until further investigation. ”Our thoughts and prayers are with those injured in the accident,” the statement said. Bleile says that he could care less who is responsible for the accident. ”Our only thoughts are with Brad and his family and with Jeremy too,” he said. 

Injured worker pulled from trench at KSU
By Abby Slutsky Special to the Beacon Journal
KENT – A construction worker installing underground pipe at Kent State University injured his back and had to be rescued from a trench at least 20 feet deep Friday. Police and fire departments from Kent and Ravenna worked quickly to get the man out of the trench. Rescue workers started an intravenous drip before securing him to a backboard that was attached to a backhoe by several ropes. At the top of the trench, the man was transferred to a gurney and wheeled to a waiting ambulance, which took him to Akron City Hospital. He was not immediately identified. The accident occurred shortly before 1 p.m. near Kent Hall by the university’s front campus. It was not known how the man was injured. Initially, rescue workers thought mud had fallen on the worker. However, Tom Euclid, director of architecture and engineering at the university, said that didn’t happen. Euclid said that the man twisted his back either while using a wheelbarrow or after being startled by a mudslide that occurred outside the trench. The injury occurred while the man was working in a safety box, which prevents the walls of the trench from caving in. 

Man falls from pickup truck, is killed on I-77 
by SHAWNA MORRISON THE ROANOKE TIMES 
A 28-year-old Pearisburg man was killed Wednesday afternoon when he fell out of the back of a pickup truck and was run over by the trailer it was towing, police said. Virginia State Police Trooper J.L. Mullins said the accident happened about 5:40 p.m. in the Fort Chiswell area of Interstate 77, about a mile and a half south of its intersection with Interstate 81. Charles Eugene Stowers was on his way back from North Carolina in a pickup truck with seven other men – five in the large cab and two in the bed, which was covered with a camper shell, Mullins said, when he fell out of the truck and was run over. The men worked for an independent construction company that did commercial tile work and had been working on a project for Campbell’s Soup Co., Mullins said. They had been in North Carolina for a few weeks and were on their way home. The truck was hauling a small box trailer loaded with tools, clothes and other supplies, Mullins said. The pickup truck was the only vehicle involved, Mullins said. Mullins said foul play is not suspected. “It’s really sad,” he said. “Just a tragic accident.” No charges will be placed. A law that makes it illegal to ride in the back of a truck applies only to people younger than 16. 

Worker Hurt in Fall
By Tomoeh Murakami STAFF WRITER July 12, 2003
A Ronkonkoma man was in serious condition last night after falling 25 feet into a cement hole at a Melville construction site. Salvatore Valensisi, an employee of McLean Contracting of Melville, was inside a waste treatment plant he was helping to build at 171 Half Hollow Rd., the site of a 1,300-home community called Greens at Half Hollow, when he plunged into the hole, authorities said. “One of the grates [covering the hole] was removed and he fell in,” said David Kaplan, assistant chief of the Melville Fire Department. Valensisi, 55, suffered internal bleeding, a broken leg and various back, rib and abdominal injuries, authorities said. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating. A man identified as a representative of the employer by an OSHA investigator who was at the scene of the incident Friday declined to immediately comment. It took Melville firefighters, assisted by rescue teams from the East Farmingdale and Huntington Manor fire departments as well as Suffolk County police, 50 minutes to hoist Valensisi out of the 10-foot wide hole on a stretcher, Kaplan said. Valensisi was transported to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. He was later taken to Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, where he remained in serious condition last night, a hospital spokesman said. 

Hereford man injured in power line accident 
The Amarillo Globe-News 
MIAMI – A Hereford man working here on the new railroad expansion was injured Thursday when a crane became entangled in power lines. Roberts County Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Smithey said Anthony Abeyta, 19, working for Messer Construction of Hereford, was unloading concrete railroad ties from a work train to the new rail bed using a link-belt crane about 11 a.m. When workers raised the crane, the boom got into some power lines above the crossing on North Main Street and Railroad Avenue, Smithey said. Abeyta was holding onto the clamps on the rail tie and suffered electrical shock. He was conscious with noticeable burns to his hands and feet, Smithey said, and was flown by Lifestar to University Medical Center in Lubbock. Abeyta was the only one injured in the accident, Smithey said. Xcel Energy officials arrived on the scene to check the lines, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad officials shut down the site for the day, Smithey said. 

Gas line broken by contractor snarls traffic 
Friday, July 11, 2003 By PRECIOUS PETTY The Express-Times 
BETHLEHEM — Downtown traffic slowed to a crawl for several hours Thursday after construction workers ruptured a high-pressure gas line at West Union Boulevard and Monocacy Street about 9:30 a.m. Emergency crews blocked part of West Union Boulevard between Third Avenue and New Street and part of Main Street between West Broad and Goepp streets while a UGI Corp. crew worked to repair the gas main. Homes and businesses along Monocacy Street between West Union Boulevard and Goepp Street and along West Union Boulevard between Conestoga and Main streets were evacuated from 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. as a safety precaution, said Fire Marshall Eugene Novak. A city contracted crew accidentally hit the main while digging trenches to install conduits for a traffic light at the intersection, said Director of Public Works Michael Alkhal. AJ Trunzo, Inc., the contractor working at the site, “did everything by the book,” Alkhal said. “They did what they could ahead of time to avoid hitting the gas main,” he said. A firefighter responding to another call saw a plume of gas rise from the main when he drove by the scene and immediately began isolating the intersection, Novak said. UGI spokesman Barry Wentzel said 28 area customers were left without service for a time after the gas main break. Service was expected to be restored by 3 p.m., Wentzel said early Thursday afternoon. Nearly 60 employees evacuated from Cigars International on Monocacy Street gathered at Monocacy and Goepp while they waited to find out if it was safe to return to work. “We’ve had power outages from storms before, but never an evacuation because of a gas leak,” said Victoria Esterly of Bethlehem, a Cigars International worker. Normally, workers package 2,000 boxes of cigars a day, but productivity is likely to suffer because of the nearly three-hour break in the work day, Esterly said. City Firefighter Ray Alpha was treated for a cut hand at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg and released, Novak said. A police officer overcome by gas fumes was taken to a local hospital for treatment and released, officials said. 

Fire damages William Blount roof
2003-07-13 by Anna C. Irwin of The Daily Times Staff
A fire on the roof at William Blount High School was the first of three fires in quick succession late Friday and early Saturday in Blount County. The fire at the school caused minimal damage and Blount County Schools Director Alvin Hord credited the person who reported the fire as well as the quick response by firefighters. “It could have been a lot worse, if the fire had spread,” Hord said. Alicia C. Mathes, who lives on County Farm Road, near the school, reported the blaze at 11:46 p.m. Friday. She said she could see orange flames and heavy smoke coming from the roof at the back left corner of the school. Blount County Fire Department was notified at 11:50 p.m. Firefighters were on the scene minutes later but were initially hampered by the difficulty in reaching the roof of the two-story building. Greenback Fire Department sent a ladder truck to the scene and provided a way for firemen to get on the roof with hoses and water. Blount County Fire Department had 12 firefighters and six trucks at the school. They were assisted by Greenback, Alcoa and Maryville Fire Department personnel who came to offer their help. The roof fire was brought under control at 12:37 a.m. and the last of the firefighters left the scene at 2:45 a.m. Hord said work on the roof is in progress and it appeared the fire might have been caused when a spark escaped from welding equipment, then smoldered for several hours after workers left Friday afternoon. He said the construction company’s insurance is expected to cover the cost of repairing the fire damage. “Only a small section of the roof was burned, and it was over a locker area near one of the bathrooms. They were able to sweep the water that got inside the building to a drain in the bathroom,” Hord said. “A copy machine got wet, but we don’t yet know if it can be repaired or needs to be replaced. “I was surprised there was very little odor inside the building. The wind was blowing, and it must have carried most of the smoke away,” he said. According to Hord, the section of flat, tar roof that burned and the attic area below it will be cut away and replaced in plenty of time for the school’s registration day set Aug. 1 and the first day of classes Aug. 8. As firemen were responding to the blaze at William Blount High School, a fire alarm began to sound at Mentor Market, 2503 Mentor Road, Louisville. Deputy Gail Anderson said she arrived at 11:55 p.m. to find flames coming from the rear of the building at a small loading dock. Blount County firefighters, including some diverted from the fire at the school, found smoke rolling from the front of the market and the back wall of the building ablaze. Three Blount County fire trucks and seven men brought the market fire under control and were able to leave the scene an hour later at 12:53 a.m. Saturday. The market, owned by David T. Edmonds, Pink Hatcher Lane, Louisville, closed at 8 p.m. Friday, and the clerk left around 8:15 p.m. The cause of the fire is undetermined but is apparently considered suspicious. Blount County Sheriff’s arsonpecialists are investigating. Blount County firefighters were still at the market when a 911 call at 12:47 a.m. Saturday reported a mobile home on fire in Rockford. The fire department was notified at 12:52 a.m. and firefighters reached the William H. Wilson residence on Homer Avenue at 12:57 a.m. Five Blount County fire trucks and nine men, including those who were at the market, responded along with Alcoa Fire Department personnel, an Alcoa rescue truck and an Alcoa pumper. The mobile home fire was under control at 1:06 a.m. but not before more than half the trailer was destroyed. Firefighters left the third fire scene at 2:06 a.m. Saturday, just over half an hour before those at the school fire were able to return to their stations. 

Worker rescued from trench 
By K. Manikandan 
CHENNAI JULY 12. Fire Service personnel today struggled to rescue a worker who was trapped after the mud caved in and fell on him while he was working to lay sewer lines at M.G.R. Nagar in K. K. Nagar this evening. The personnel rescued 25-year-old S. Maari, who got trapped when he stepped into the 20-foot ditch this afternoon, after a 90-minute effort. Maari, along with his younger brother, Muthu, and younger sister, Devi, and scores of other labourers, was working to lay the main 1200-mm diameter sewer lines on K.K.Salai, as part of Metrowater’s Clean Rivers Conservation Project. Maari entered the huge trench that was dug up to lay the main pipelines. He got down along with six others to measure the width of the levelled area, when mud from the western side of the trench caved in all of a sudden. While four of them managed to claw their way out and climb up the trench, Maari and two others still lay trapped. Noticing this, a local shopowner alerted the Fire Service personnel. While two others were immediatey pulled out of the trench, they found it difficult to retrieve Maari, as the wooden and iron beams placed on either sides to prevent the earth from falling into the trench, had also fallen on him, along with the mud. The Fire Service personnel from Ashok Nagar, who actually pulled out Maari, said that at first sight, they were able to notice Maari buried under the mud only till the waist. “He responded to our querries and even drank water”, one of the Firemen said. They first pulled out the wooden slabs and iron beams manually and also using cranes before clearing the mud gradually. Devi, the younger sister of Maari, said the family belonged to Tindivanam and that they had settled down in Chennai some years ago. Along with her two elder brothers, she too was working on this project for the past two weeks. She and her father, Subramani, a cobbler, having a shop near the accident spot, had to be consoled by other workers even as the rescue attempt was on. It was a relief for the personnel, policemen, other labourers and hundreds of on-lookers, when Maari was finally pulled out of the mud and taken in an ambulance. Scores of local residents who had gathered atop terraces cheered as the Firemen took away Maari on a stretcher. According to police officers, who confirmed that Maari was out of danger, investigations would be taken up and the contractor penalised for negligence if found guilty. The trench, dug up for a depth of 20-foot and a distance of 100-feet was barricaded and made out of bounds. Police used lathis to prevent curious youth from venturing close to the trench. This road with the trench is used by thousands of school students everyday, causing worry to the parents who send them by vans and autorickshaws.

Historic warehouse hit by fire must be razed
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF
TACOMA — The owner of a historic warehouse destroyed by fire will have to tear it down. The fire at the Alpine Cold Storage building, a brick warehouse downtown, broke out early Wednesday and was still burning in spots yesterday, said Ron Stephens, an acting deputy chief with the Tacoma Fire Department. Investigators believe the fire was started by workers using a torch to remove metal plating from the building’s old wood floor. Structural engineers went into the 56,000-square-foot warehouse yesterday and determined it had to be demolished. The owner purchased the building just two months ago for $400,000 and will have to bear the cost of the demolition, Stephens said. Because the potential for collapse remains, the streets around the building are still closed to traffic. At least two fire crews will remain at the site until the building is down, Stephens said, to ensure the fire does not flare up again.

Fire evacuates the Old State Capitol Building
Updated: 7/10/2003 By: Kathleen Keener & Web Staff
Work on the old State Capitol Building causes more problems than repairs. The roof caught fire on Wednesday, forcing firefighters to evacuate the building. There were about thirty people in the building but this was a small fire and no one was hurt but streets in the area were closed for hours and it caused some excitement for people who were uptown. Joseph Washington was hard at work at his hotdog stand when he heard the sirens. “I just saw a lot of fire trucks pulling up, and sirens, and Capital City Police running,” said Washington. “I didn’t know what was going on.” A small fire started in the dome of the Capitol while workers were trying to repair leaks. Welding caused the wood below the copper to smolder, and smoke spread quickly. “As soon as that fire alarm went on, it was so shrill that everyone started going out the door, we had no problem getting people out the door,” said Capitol Director Carol Henderson. Firefighters put it out quickly and nothing in the building was damaged. “You certainly think about the historical significance of the building,” said Raleigh Fire Battalion Chief Tommie Steysons. “There are artifacts here that can’t be replaced. You’re always thinking ahead to those things.” Workers credit their safety to the buildings’ fire alarms and smoke detectors. “If this had happened 20 years ago, or even 15 years ago, it might not have been such a happy ending.” This is not the first fire at the Capitol building. In 1831, a soldering tool sparked a fire and destroyed the building. 

Fire engulfs trailer 
RUSS OLIVO , Staff Writer 07/10/2003 
WOONSOCKET — A smoky fire destroyed a cargo trailer filled with hazardous construction debris on Privilege Street Wednesday morning after a welder who was repairing the roof inadvertently ignited the contents of the vehicle, firefighters said. The 48-foot long, metal container was packed with asphalt shingles, asbestos tubing and other construction materials, said Acting Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Williams. To minimize the runoff of potentially tainted water from the site, firefighters relied heavily on fire-suppressing foam to combat the blaze. They were concerned about contaminating the nearby Mill River, which feeds the swimming area at World War II Veterans State Park. On orders from the state Department of Environmental Management, which runs the park, workers closed off the intake valve at the holding pond for the swimming area on East School Street, several blocks away from the fire. Peter Lambert, the caretaker of the park, said chlorine levels in the holding pond were also boosted while firefighters responded to the blaze. DEM and city firefighters both called Lambert shortly after the fire broke out at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. “They were concerned some of their water was going to get into our place,” Lambert said. “We don’t think any did. All of our actions were strictly precautionary.” No one was injured in the fire, which broke through the walls of the cargo container and blackened the tail end of another container parked a few feet away. Williams said the containers are owned by STG Service Transport Corporation of 28 Privilege St. The company, whose principal trade is environmental cleanup, runs a truck depot at the site. Among those who responded to the fire were the fire department’s hazardous materials (Haz-Mat) team and workers from DEM’s hazardous materials division. Williams said it took firefighters about 45 minutes to bring the fire under control using “Class A foam,” a harmless material that looks like soap lather. “It smothers the fire, like a blanket,” said Williams. The asphalt-based products stored in the container were fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, and some areas were very hard to put out, said Williams. Some of the materials inside were made from petroleum, he said, which fueled the fire and burned intensely. Williams said asbestos materials do not burn, but they pose a hazard if they are dispersed into the atmosphere where they can be inhaled. Firefighters protected themselves by breathing through special oxygen tanks while fighting the fire. Normally, the fire department has its own personnel to refill the tanks, but on Wednesday North Smithfield firefighters filled in because the local facilities have been sidelined by a modernization project at the Cumberland Street fire station. Williams said an STG worker had climbed onto the roof of the container to do some welding when sparks from his equipment apparently ignited materials inside. The welder fled safely and the fire was later reported by workers from STG, said Williams, calling the fire accidental. “It was a lot of smoke,” said Jimmy McElroy, who runs L&R Auto Parts, across the street from the STG depot. “I’m surprised they’re out of here so quick. I thought this was going to be an all-day affair.” Workers from the highway department were called in to build a sand dike across Privilege Street to keep the runoff from the fire from getting into the Mill River, which runs from Harris Pond to East School Street, past the STG depot. “We can’t let it spread all over the ground over here, we just have to keep it contained,” said Firefighter Steve Preston, the leader of the Haz-Mat team. “Asbestos is a respiratory hazard, but it doesn’t burn. There’s no real hazard.” A private company, TMC Services Inc., was in charge of cleaning up the site after firefighters left. “We’ll do most of it in-house,” said a man who would identify himself only as an employee of STG. He said that TMC Services is one of the company’s usual subcontractors for environmental cleanup work. 

UPDATE Worker dies in fall from HRN; Man died after falling from scaffolding on the eighth floor of Hamilton College House 
By Laura Sullivan July 10, 2003 
A construction worker fell to his death from scaffolding on the south side of Hamilton College House while working on renovations to the high rise building nearly two weeks ago. University officials would not release the victim’s name, but said that he was in his early twenties. “Unfortunately on June 27 at [1:40 p.m.] we had an employee… fall from the eighth floor off the scaffold,” University Director of Fire and Emergency Services Ted Bateman said, noting that the drop was approximately 85 feet. The victim was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after the accident. “The day of the unfortunate incident operations were ceased,” Bateman said. “Out of respect for the employee, his family and the other workers at the site, operations were ceased on Monday as well.” The death comes on the heels of a stabbing, which left another construction worker in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. On June 23, David Ingraham, 38, was arrested after allegedly stabbing Sam Hrynczyszn, 25. The two workers reportedly got into an argument over their work schedules and Ingraham allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed Hrynczyszn three times in the stomach and upper chest. Ingraham has been charged with criminal attempt to murder, aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. Commending the officers on the scene, Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush noted that “had it not been for their actions we probably would have had a 26 year old victim who would not have survived.” After the most recent accident, University officials say they are working to improve safety measures at the site. “There were a number of meetings subsequent to the accident and they included representatives from Penn Public Safety, the general contractor on site, the subcontractor and representatives from Penn Facilities and Risk Management to address… the site safety considerations,” Bateman said. Aiming “to take some remedial action before the site would be open again,” the crew has implemented several changes according to Bateman. These changes include inspections of the guard and end rails on the scaffolding mechanisms at the beginning and end of each work day. The glazers — those whose work at the site requires them to be out on the scaffolding — will also be tied in as per new safety measures. Bateman also noted that there would be “trained and qualified supervision on the site at all times and all operations — including the scaffolding operations — would be monitored throughout the day.” All personnel — including those who work on the scaffolding — will be retrained, according to Bateman. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is currently investigating the death. “Penn Public Safety and other responsible parties at Penn are in constant contact with OSHA,” Bateman said, noting that a closing meeting will be held once the investigation is complete. 

Construction worker wounded in drill accident
Publishing date: 07-09-2003 5:28 PM
(KAAL) — A construction worker trying to drill into a piece of metal winds up heading to the hospital after the drill bit slips and punctures his chest. 27-year-old Brian Neeley was holding the metal up to his chest and drilling towards himself, when the drill bit slipped it went into his chest about 1 to 2 inches. Neeley was conscious and alert but in a lot of pain and bleeding badly. Neeley was transferred to St. Mary’s hospital via gold cross ambulance and is in fair condition. 

Champaign explosion injures 2 
By TIM MITCHELL THE NEWS-GAZETTE
CHAMPAIGN – Investigators are theorizing that magnesium dust may have played a role in the explosion that injured two people in Interstate Research Park on Wednesday afternoon. The explosion occurred shortly before 3:30 p.m. at the Wayne H. Choe Technology Center, 1401 Interstate Drive. Two construction workers doing cleanup work there were taken by ambulance to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana for treatment. Their identities were not disclosed. Champaign Fire Department spokeswoman Dena Schumacher said Cerion Technologies, a former occupant of the building, had made compact discs and had left what investigators believe was magnesium dust in dust collectors. When the two workers used an acetylene torch to cut some pipes Wednesday, it caused a small fire, she said. “But when the workers used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, it atomized what we believe to be magnesium dust and set off a dust explosion,” Schumacher said. Schumacher said a structural engineer has determined that the rear third of the building will need to be demolished as a result of the explosion. Emergency personnel were called to the building at 3:26 p.m. following a report of an explosion. Seven fire department trucks and six to eight police units responded. When the first firefighters arrived, they found a fire, extensive damage to the rear of the building and two injured people. White smoke was showing toward the back of the building. “The south wall is history, and a portion of the roof was raised a few inches,” Schumacher said. Gas and electricity were shut off to the area as a precaution, Schumacher said. Firefighters extinguished the blaze within two minutes. No evacuations were necessary because firefighters judged the neighborhood to be safe, she said. “We had police here immediately in case we needed to evacuate neighborhoods, but we did not need to do that,” she said. The building, owned by Wayne H. Choe, is occupied by two businesses, Servicemaster of Champaign-Urbana and the Institute of Advanced Technology. According to Schumacher, the rear of the building, where the explosion occurred, was unoccupied. Choe had hired two people from Huls Construction Co. to clean out the 5,000-square-foot vacant area on the south side of the building and work on interior finish, flooring and walls in preparation for a new occupant. “They were just about finished with their work, and today was to be their last day of work in there,” Schumacher said.Jim Crisman, co-owner of Servicemaster of Champaign-Urbana, said he was working at his desk at the time of the explosion. “It sounded like something heavy was dropped on top of the building,” Crisman said. “It was pretty startling and scary; probably the loudest thing that you would hear in any given day. I knew right away that something wasn’t normal.” Crisman ran around the east side of the building to see what happened, while the other co-owner, Dwayne Roberts, ran around the west side. “I saw a couple of guys staggering out,” Crisman said. “They weren’t very coherent; they were on their feet but staggering and burned pretty bad. One guy had a shoulder that was injured pretty badly. We got them to the front of the building and had them sit down until the ambulance showed up.” Crisman said none of his 10 employees inside the building was injured. Servicemaster reopened for business this morning. “There wasn’t any structural damage in our part of the building,” Crisman said Wednesday. “I can’t imagine that they won’t let us back in there Thursday.” This morning, Choe said the Institute of Advanced Technology had reopened for regular operations. Schumacher said it was fortunate that only two people were injured. Crisman said it was ironic that his firm is a professional service company that specializes in fire and water damage restoration. “After everybody sorts things out, we may have some service to provide in our own building,” he said. 

More smoke than fire in tank 
Thursday, July 10, 2003 By KAY RUDDEROW Staff Writer 
BRIDGETON — A fire caused by workers using a torch to dismantle an empty fuel tank at Woodruff Energy on Water Street created a lot of smoke, but little danger or damage Wednesday. According to Bridgeton Fire Chief Dave Schoch, a call went out at 11:51 a.m. and the fire department responded to the scene of the fire, about three blocks from the station, within minutes. The Hopewell-Stow Creek Fire Company also responded with an engine and some manpower, Schoch said. “They respond as part of our automatic mutual aid system.”. The workers were dismantling one of the tanks at the rear of the property and there was no fuel involved, according to Woodruff Energy spokesman Bob Woodruff. “We have to do this every five years or so, to clean the tanks and have them inspected,” Woodruff said. Inside the tanks is a type of floating roof over the fuel that would be contained in the tanks, which is edged in rubber against the sides of the tank, he said. The sparks from the workers’ torch set the rubber gasket on fire, causing a lot of black smoke, but little flame, he said. “Dave Schoch and his men deserve a big hand. They were here in a couple of minutes and did a great job,” Woodruff said. “Fortunately, the fire was minor.” The fire company and Bridgeton Emergency Ambulance Association were on the scene for a little more than an hour. 

Workers injured in Kimmel collapse to get $12.7 million
The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA – Seven workers who were injured, several of them completely disabled, in a scaffolding collapse during construction of Philadelphia’s new performing arts center will receive amounts ranging from $200,000 to $3.1 million to settle lawsuits in connection with the accident. Attorneys worked out the $12.1 million settlement in three days of negotiations before mediator Ronald Sherr. The accident occurred Feb. 10, 2000, as hundreds of tons of concrete were poured into a form built to create an underground parking garage ramp at the 435,000-square-foot Kimmel Center, which opened in December 2001. The workers standing on the form plunged nearly 40 feet into the wet concrete and broken scaffolding below The agreement calls for payments of $3.15 million to David B. Jennings III, $3 million each to Rodney Jones and Christopher Rizzo, $2 million to Michael Warnick, $1.2 million to Michael Berardi, and $200,000 each to Allen McCray and Earven E. Pettaway. Attorneys for the worker said the blame was shared by several companies involved, because designs for the concrete form had never been completed, and contractors went ahead and built it without any plans. he injured workers sued the form designer, Peri Formwork Systems Inc.; the concrete contractor, Pietrini & Sons; the general contractors, L.F. Driscoll and Artis Ore Inc.; and the Regional Performing Arts Center, the company that owns the Kimmel Center. Robert J. Mongeluzzi, one of the attorneys for workers, said the plaintiffs’ attorneys focused on proving that all the defendants shared in the liability. Peri Formwork was under contract to provide a design for the form but never did, and Pietrini built the form “without the benefit of plans,” according to a memo by the plaintiffs’ attorneys outlining their case. L.F. Driscoll had overall responsibility for safety, but the company’s safety manager at the site acknowledged in a deposition he hadn’t seen a formwork project before and wasn’t aware of relevant safety regulations, “for which the plaintiffs have paid a very heavy price,” the memo said. Joel Paul Fishbein, an attorney for L.F. Driscoll and Pietrini, said the settlement was acceptable. “This was about as reasonable a settlement as one could expect considering the liability issues, the nature of the accident and the quality of the plaintiffs’ attorneys,” Fishbein said. Information from: The Legal Intelligencer

Construction accident causes break in gas main 
The Associated Press 7/8/03 11:39 AM
IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (AP) — A crew worked Tuesday to fix a natural gas main that ruptured the previous day, prompting authorities to evacuate 10 businesses. Construction workers using earth-moving equipment accidentally broke open the gas main Monday morning, said John Austerberry, spokesman for Michigan Consolidated Gas Co., which owns the line. The eight-inch pipe carries gas that is pressurized to 150 pounds per square inch, making it a high-capacity main, Austerberry said. But enough gas remained in the system to prevent service interruptions, he said. Despite its pungent odor, the gas presented no health dangers to people in the area, he said. The evacuations were ordered to reduce risk of igniting the gas. The MichCon crew, based in Grand Rapids, was expected to finish repairs Tuesday afternoon. The evacuated businesses were to remain off-limits until then, Austerberry said.

Town highway worker injured by truck
(New Milford-WTNH, July 7, 2003 Updated 5:03 PM) _ A town highway worker was seriously injured Monday when he was run over by a paving truck he was driving. The accident happened at about 3:00 p.m. on Long Mountain Road in the Gaylordsville section of town. A town official says the worker got out of the truck and somehow the truck started rolling down the hill, striking the man. He was taken to the hospital. The man has not been identified. 

Highway Worker Struck By Pickup While Redirecting Traffic; 39-Year-Old Sent To Hospital With Internal Injuries
POSTED: 4:12 p.m. EST July 7, 2003
REMINGTON, Ind. — A state highway worker directing traffic around the scene of an Interstate 65 accident was injured when he was struck by a pickup truck Monday, police said. The worker was hit about three hours after two southbound tractor-trailers collided in Jasper County about 25 miles north of Lafayette, causing one of the rigs to burst into flames and injure the driver, Indiana State Police said. That tractor-trailer and its cargo of aluminum cans were destroyed by fire in the 4 a.m. accident. The driver was hospitalized with minor injuries. The driver of the other tractor-trailer wasn’t hurt, police said. Southbound traffic was diverted off the highway and allowed to re-enter four miles away. James M. Salkeld, a 39-year-old Department of Transportation worker based in Gary, was directing traffic on foot when a southbound pickup struck him. The pickup’s driver later told investigators he had been working overnight and was tired. The driver reported he had been traveling 65-70 mph before the crash, and tried to brake before hitting Salkeld. Salkeld was being treated at Jasper County Hospital for internal injuries to his pelvis and back, state police said.Welder sparks fire at Camp Williams
CAMP WILLIAMS, Utah (AP) – A spark from a contractor’s welding ignited a wildfire that blackened more than 500 acres of grassy, open land Tuesday at the Camp Williams National Guard facility. The fire was about 70 percent contained as of 4 p.m., said Salt Lake County fire Captain Jay Ziolkowski. The nearby communities of Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs faced a low threat, but there were no evacuations. The fire was contained to the guard camp, located about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City. More than 100 fire personnel, an air tanker and two helicopters fought the blaze. The fire moved quickly under high winds and low humidity even though the welder had two people monitoring for fire safety, Ziolkowski said. 

Man dies doing what he loved: Working
By DEBORAH GATES Daily Times Staff Writer 
FRUITLAND — Wallace Foxwell turned 65 and called it quits at the job he had held for more than three decades. But like other retirees wanting to stay active, he went back to work. Foxwell, the oldest employee for the City of Fruitland, died last week from an accident doing what he knew and loved — climbing a ladder. Fruitland’s code enforcement officer and housing inspector for the last seven years would have turned 79 next Thursday. “He’s been in construction work all of his life,” a tearful Wanda Foxwell, of Salisbury, said of her husband. “He loved it.” Her husband was inspecting a house under construction on Fruitland’s East Main Street when a ladder supporting him apparently slipped, she said. A construction worker discovered Foxwell on the ground beside the ladder the morning of June 30, Fruitland City Manager Rick Pollitt said Tuesday. It was unclear whether the ladder slipped or Foxwell became ill and fell, he said. “We’re speculating he might have fallen off,” Pollitt said. The injury paralyzed Foxell, and he was flown by helicopter to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore from Peninsula Regional Medical Center, Wanda Foxwell said. “He could talk. We were hoping he’d get better,” she said. Foxwell died two days later and the Dorchester County native was buried Monday in Cambridge, where he worked 35 years at the Charles E. Brohawn Co. construction company, his wife said Tuesday. The couple moved to Salisbury after Foxwell’s 1986 retirement, renting a place for a while, then eventually building a new home. “He didn’t build it himself but he checked on the builders, checked what they were doing,” Wanda Foxwell said. Foxwell took a job as an inspector at George Miles and Buhr, a Salisbury architectural firm doing business with Fruitland, Pollitt said. “That’s how we got to know him,” he said. “We took him away.” At the time, Fruitland was facing a housing boom with no housing inspector, and Foxwell stepped in part-time to fill the void, Pollitt said. Soon, he doubled as the town’s code enforcement officer. “He made his own hours, usually (working) in the early morning until about noon,” Pollitt said. “We were in the process of hiring a full-time code enforcement officer and have him do building inspection. We will have to re-evaluate the whole program.” 

Trench accident sends two to hospital
ORANGEDALE,N.S. (CP) – The collapse of a trench near Orangedale, Nova Scotia late Monday afternoon sent two construction workers to hospital with serious injuries. The mishap occurred on the Orangedale road, a short distance from the Trans Canada Highway in Inverness County. The two workers, employed by Blair S. Francis Construction, were initially taken to hospital in Baddeck and then air-lifted to Cape Breton Regional Hospital. Hospital spokesperson, Greg Boone, says they suffered multiple injuries, including fractures, and are now in fair condition. A spokesperson for the Department of Labour, Penny McCormick, says the department is investigating and ordered the contractor to backfill the trench to prevent any further accidents. 

Water Main Break Leaves Atchison Without Water
Damage to a water main left Atchison residents without drinking water for nearly 24 hours. Workers for an excavating company were installing a six-inch water main Monday when they accidentally cut into a 24-inch water main pipe. The accident prompted the city to immediately close down its water plant. The pipe is the only water source for Atchison from the Missouri River. The damage was repaired by early Tuesday, but residents weren’t able to use the water until about noon. They also were told to boil the water before consuming it because it will have extra chlorine for several hours. City Engineer Joe Drimmel says the excavators were using outdated maps of the water lines that don’t show the water main that was cut. 

Air conditioning work sparks fire at school
BY ROBERT BLASZKIEWICZ Times Porter County Editor
PORTAGE — A welding torch being used to install air conditioning at Jones Elementary School is believed to have sparked a small ceiling fire Thursday afternoon, sending smoke through the building before the blaze was quickly put out. The fire burned through insulation and ceiling tiles and was hot enough that it damaged the rubber membrane roof in the one-story section of the school, said Dean Shatz, Portage Township Schools director of auxiliary services. Fire Chief Tim Sosby said the fire was contained to Room 8, a computer lab, but a neighboring classroom and nearby hallways sustained smoke damage. No summer school classes were in session at the school and no injuries were reported. Sosby said it would be difficult to estimate the amount of damage until school officials could assess the contents of the room. The computer lab contained 28 to 30 new Dell computers, still in their boxes, which appeared to be undamaged. A lone multimedia projector remained anchored in the ceiling, surrounded by the framework of the drop ceiling with the damaged tiles torn out. Shatz said it appeared the school would have an extensive cleanup ahead, similar to the cleanup that took place two months ago at Portage High School West after vandals released fire extinguishers throughout the school. Portage school Superintendent George McKay remarked that maintenance crews recently spent three days cleaning Jones, work that now would have to be repeated. Firefighters were called to Jones at 1:14 p.m., after maintenance crews heard yelling that there was a fire. Workers with the air conditioning contractor, O.J. Shoemaker Inc. of South Bend, were doing welding in Room 8 when the fire broke out. Firefighters were on the scene in five minutes and had the fire struck at 1:32 p.m. Sosby said the department’s initial findings indicated the fire was caused by sparks from a welding torch, but that a full investigation into the cause would be done. A representative of O.J. Shoemaker at the scene directed questions to school and fire officials. The installation of air conditioning at Jones is part of a $15 million bond issue in the township to revamp heating systems and air condition schools that have gone without. McKay said that before the fire, air conditioning work at Jones was expected to be done by August. South Haven and Burns Harbor fire departments assisted Portage, while Ogden Dunes, Union Township and Porter departments were on stand-by. An engine from Portage Station No. 1 was delayed from arriving at the scene by a freight train that slowed and eventually stopped, blocking the CSX tracks on McCool Road, just south of the school. Sosby said the blocked crossing could have been a big problem if the fire had been larger. A dispatcher ended up calling the railroad to get the train moved. Sosby said the increased train traffic in the city does pose a concern for emergency responders and that they try to avoid railroad tracks whenever they can. 

Worker killed at 29/Trancas work site; Martinez man struck by a piece of construction equipment
Friday, July 4, 2003 By MARSHA DORGAN Register Staff Writer
A construction worker was struck and killed by a piece of heavy equipment at the Highway 29/Trancas Street interchange project on Thursday afternoon. John Castro, 45, of Martinez, died around 2 p.m. at Queen of the Valley Hospital. Castro was part of a crew working in the northeast corner of the construction site. He was struck in the lower back by a bucket attached to backhoe, according to Acting Fire Capt. Phil Stith. “When we got there, the victim was lying on the surface of the dirt up against a berm, away from the bucket,” Stith said. Co-workers said the bucket hit Castro in the lower back and pushed him into the dirt, Stith said. “He was breathing at the scene and was talking a little bit in the ambulance on the way to the hospital,” Stith said. “He was taken to surgery and expired at the hospital.” The site was cordoned off with yellow plastic tape. By 3:30 p.m., most of the workers had left the site, replaced by detectives who were looking for clues. The monster backhoe that dealt the fatal blow sat idle, its bucket resting on a pile of dirt. At this time Castro’s death is being handled as an industrial accident. The investigation has been turned over to California Occupational and Health Safety Administration. This is second industrial fatal in the county within a month. Nelson Rivera, 39, of Angwin was killed June 16 when he was crushed to death in a trash compactor at the Pacific Union College landfill on Highland Springs Road, north of the college. Rivera worked for PUC since 1996. Investigators believe he slipped and fell into a four-foot pit where he was raking trash. He was killed instantly when the compactor engaged, crushing him. Cal-OSHA is still investigating the accident. The $55 million Highway 29/Trancas Street interchange project has been under construction since the spring of 2002 and is scheduled to be completed next year. The freeway will be submerged beneath Trancas Street/Redwood Road. The Napa Valley Wine Train tracks will remain at grade. 

Tragedy as slab crushes work pals
Jul 3, 2003, 15:34:00
A Moxley man and his workmate were crushed to death in a freak accident when a one-and-a-half tonne concrete slab fell on them as they worked together on a building site. Today devastated friends and family of John Clarke, aged 42, of Belmont Gardens, were trying to come to terms with his death, which happened less than a month before he was due to get married. Mr Clarke was to marry his girlfriend of four years in a summer wedding planned for the end of July. He died alongside his good friend Barry Greatrex, aged 58, of Lunt Road, Bilston. Both suffered multiple injuries in the accident which happened at around 12.30pm on June 27 in Carver Street, Ladywood, Birmingham. Today Rob Davies, aged 41, said he was one of Mr Clarke’s best friends and spoke of him as a skilled worker and a well liked and respected man with many friends. “I am still shaking now and I can’t get over it. He would do anything for anyone and he would always help you out,” he said. “He could put his hand to anything and was a very skilled an. He liked playing pool a lot and was a very good player. “We were in the same year at Darlaston Comprehensive. They were a very close family and everybody is devastated. “He had plenty of friends and was very well liked.” Mr Greatrex leaves his wife Cynthia, who he was married to for around 30 years, and three grown-up sons and a daughter. His funeral is expected to take place on Monday July 14. A Health and Safety Executive spokeswoman said the men were working inside a three-storey building which is being renovated by Humphries Demolition. “It appears that the men were removing a concrete floor slab which was 2m by 1.5m and weighed one-and-a-half tonnes. This slab landed on them and crushed them to death,” she said. An inquest on the two men was today opened and adjourned by Birmingham coroner Aidan Cotter. 

Fire Destroys Stonington Plant, Damages Homes; Investigators Focus On Renovation Work
STONINGTON, Conn. — Investigators may have a lead into what caused a massive fire that struck the former Monsanto plant in Stonington. Thursday’s fire destroyed the five-acre harborfront mill site, which was undergoing a $30 million renovation into a luxury residential and commercial complex. Crews said demolition workers were using torches inside the building to cut down old pipes hours before the fire. Investigators have not yet ruled on any official cause. It took firefighters from several communities at least three hours to bring flames under control. No one was hurt, but several homes were damaged by intense heat and smoke. The long-vacant mill employed thousands of borough residents for more than 150 years, first as a firearms factory and more recently as a plastics manufacturer. 

Two men found dead inside Guilford manhole
7/6/2003 9:30 AM By: Associated Press
(WHITSETT) — Sheriff’s deputies and safety regulators want to know how a father and his adult son died inside a manhole in Guilford County. Family of David and Christopher Michael found their bodies yesterday morning at a construction site in Whitsett. Their cause of death -isn’t- yet known … autopsies are scheduled for today. The two men had been helping install a water line for the City of Burlington. They were last seen alive Thursday night. State Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators were at the accident site yesterday.

House-painter electrocuted in Topsham 
Michael Reagan Times Record 07/02/2003 
TOPSHAM – A 20-year-old Topsham man died Tuesday after the aluminum ladder he and a co-worker were carrying touched a power line next to an Elm Street residence. Andrew McMillan was declared dead Tuesday afternoon at Parkview Adventist Medical Center in Brunswick, said Lt. Chris Lewis of the Topsham Police Department. McMillan was working as a painter with two other employees of College Pro Painters at a home at 16 Elm St. at the time of the accident, which was reported at 2:55 p.m. The other co-worker who was carrying the ladder, Brett Dumont, was taken by ambulance to Maine Medical Center in Portland. Lewis said Dumont was in stable condition. According to Lewis, Dumont and McMillan were moving a 40-foot ladder when it appeared they lost their balance and the ladder came into contact with power lines that run parallel to the side of the residence, Lewis said. The third worker was not injured. Central Maine Power Co. officials said the power line had about 7,200 volts running through it, Lewis said. A team from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration in Portland responded to the accident, said Bill Freeman, area director. Investigations can take one to two weeks. Representatives of Central Maine Power Co. were also called to the scene. 

Man trapped in mud: Franklin worker in hospital after ordeal on Northbridge project 
By Sara Withee / News Staff Writer Wednesday, July 2, 2003
NORTHBRIDGE — A Franklin construction worker whose legs were stuck in mud for nearly three hours yesterday was under medical evaluation for possible hypothermia last night, rescue officials said. Robert Giordano, 22, of 13 Skyline Drive, was taken to the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester yesterday morning after firefighters freed his legs from two feet of mud on the Riverdale Mills property, firefighters said. Giordano, employed by Lewis Concrete of Franklin, was laying a cement foundation for a 118,000-square-foot expansion of Riverdale Mills Corp. Giordano was working along a wall near the basement ceiling when he climbed down a ladder to the ground to retrieve some tools, Northbridge Fire Chief Gary Nestor said. The wall Giordano was working along borders a man-made water stream called a tailrace that serves an on-site hydropower operation, said property owner James Knott Sr. It reconnects with the Blackstone River about 500 feet from where Giordano was stuck in the mud. Giordano’s legs got stuck when when he stepped in a muddy area created by water spillover from the hydropower operation, Nestor said. Employees spent an hour trying to help Giordano negotiate his legs out of the mud, Nestor said. They then called Northbridge Fire Department for assistance at 8:10 a.m. Pulling Giordano’s legs free did little good except to cause him pain because the mud had created a strong suction, Nestor said. Other firefighter efforts, such as digging and trying to drain water from the ground with a Northbridge Public Works Sewer pump, were equally unsuccessful, Nestor said. “The thing just kept filling up with water, more and more and more so that’s what made it difficult,” Nestor said. Nestor finally called in the Southern District 14 Technical Rescue Team. The group of firefighters from Southborough, Ashland, Milford and Hopkinton is trained for rescues in trenches and small spaces. About 16 members of the group responded around 10 a.m., said Ashland Fire Lt. Scott Boothby, the district’s team coordinator. They found Giordano with one leg knee-deep in mud and the other leg covered up to the thigh. The rescue team stabilized the ground around the mud, then freed Giordano’s legs from the mud with a compressor and a soil pick — a tool that pushes air through a pipe, Boothby said. “Within ten minutes of us getting there, the patient was extricated from the mud and taken to the hospital,” Boothby said. By that time he was freed, Giordano was visibly bothered by the cool water temperature, Boothby said, though officials say he did not lose consciousness. “He was getting to the point that he was getting a little hypothermic,” Boothby said. Knott, who purchased the mill in 1979, is acting as general contractor for his company’s expansion, which started in May 2002 and scheduled for completion next September. He is expanding because his company, Riverdale Mills Corp., which manufactures wire-mesh lobster traps, has been growing since beginning production of “Wire Wall” security fences several years ago. Knott has clashed with the town over the expansion several times over the past year, first over a tax break the Board of Selectmen denied because it was requested after Knott began construction and over a $33,000 building permit fee. Knott has filed a lawsuit against the town over the fee, saying it is nearly 10 times the amount he was charged for a 1996 expansion approximately half the size of the current project. The Harvard graduate has powered his mill with hydrolectric turbines, feeding off the Blackstone River, since 1985. “It saves me about $100,000 a year (in electricity) that I don’t have to buy,” Knott said. Knott said he recently shut the turbines down for several months during construction. The construction site was completely dry before he turned off the operation. Yesterday’s accident gives him no reason to turn the operation off again, he said. Giordano could have avoided problems by simply relaxing and slowly pulling his legs from the mud, Knott said. “Every one in the world does know or should know your body is only half the density of quicksand,” Knott said. “You float in it.” 

Worker injured at ISU site
By: Jason Kristufek, Staff Writer July 02, 2003 
A construction worker was injured on Tuesday at the site of a new community center on the Iowa State University campus. Authorities identified the injured worker as Michael McCool, 37, of Ogden. He was transported by ambulance to Mary Greeley Medical Center for treatment of injuries to his arm and wrist. A spokesman for the hospital had no information on McCool this morning. University officials said McCool is an employee of Miron Construction Co., based in Wisconsin. The company does have a branch office in Des Moines. McCool was part of a construction crew working to complete the Union Drive Association Community Center. The building will have a cafeteria and commons area for use by students. It is located between State Gymnasium and Friley Hall on the west side of campus. ISU Police Capt. Gene Deisinger said workers were unloading several cement columns with a forklift. Apparently, a strap that held one of the columns in place broke and pinned McCool’s arm, he said. “He had several hundred pounds on top of his arm,” Deisinger said. “The other employees used the forklift to raise the object off of him.” The Ames Fire Department and rescue units responded, as did officers from ISU Police. Authorities said the injuries did not appear to be life threatening.

Large construction crane topples at D/FW airport 
07/02/2003 From Staff Reports 
A large construction crane toppled over early Wednesday afternoon at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport’s Terminal D. No one is known to have been injured in the accident, which airport officials are investigating, airport spokeswoman Star Ormand said. No cause or damage estimate is immediately available, Ms. Ormand said. Terminal D is D/FW’s future all-international flight terminal and is currently under construction. It is slated to open in 2005 as the airport’s fifth terminal.

UPDATE Woman sentenced for killing construction worker while driving drunk
ABC13 Eyewitness News
(7/01/03 – HOUSTON) — A local woman will go to jail for 15 years for killing a city worker while driving drunk. Thirty-four-year-old Yvonne Marie Webber pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle Tuesday. Back in late February, Webber was driving drunk when she hit Benny Allen Junior while he was doing street repair work on Braeswood near Braesridge in southwest Houston. Allen later died at the hospital. Police say at the time of the accident, Webber’s blood alcohol level was .32, four times the legal limit. 

Worker killed, 14 others seriously injured in lift crash
JOHOR BAHRU July 1 – An Indonesian construction worker was killed and 14 of his co-workers were seriously injured when their service lift developed brake failure and crashed to the ground from the eighth floor of the 17-storey condo block under construction at Tampoi near here Tuesday. Johor Bahru Selatan OCPD, SAC II Hashim Mohamad Yusof said some of the seriously injured suffered broken limbs and were now warded at the Hospital Sultanah Aminah here. He said the person who died at the scene was identified as 40-year-old Paidi. Speaking to Bernama, he discounted sabotage as the cause of the accident which occurred at 8.15 am. He said the service lift which operated from the outside of the building could carry about 10 people at any one time. The workers aged between 20 and 40 were going up when the accident occurred. There was a sombre mood among the Indonesian workers who gathered at the scene to ponder on the fate of their colleagues. Kempas Assemblyman Osman Sapian who visited the site said the condo block as part of the Johor Education Foundation (YPJ) Holdings privatised project and was scheduled for completion next year. Two other blocks of the Amona Condominium Project had been completed and occupied and 40 units of the block now under construction had been bought by the Johor Government for state civil servants, he said. Meanwhile a spokesman for Amona Consolidated Holdings Sdn Berhad when contacted said officials of the Occupational Safety and Health Department visited the scene and gave permission for construction work to go ahead but grounded the service lift. 

Three workers injured in blast after underground cabling work fails 
By Johnson Choo 
Three workers were injured in an explosion at the junction of Tanjong Katong Road and Dunman Road on Tuesday. They were in a manhole carrying out cabling work for a residential development when the accident happened. One of the injured, a 37-year-old man, had 30 percent burns and was sent to the Singapore General Hospital for treatment. The other two suffered minor burns and had refused to go for outpatient treatment. According to PowerGrid, the accident happened when the cables’ insulation failed. This resulted in a short circuit and an explosion followed. 

Man in stable condition after accident at work
SAN DIMAS — A 28-year-old San Dimas man received a cut to his forearm Monday evening in an industrial accident, sheriff’s deputies said. Jeff Vandenburg was working at Straight Arrow Construction at 466 W. Arrow Highway at 7:05 p.m. when he cut himself on some sheet metal, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Chris Branuelas. Firefighters said the cut severed an artery in his forearm, causing major blood loss. Vandenburg was taken to San Dimas Community Hospital where he was listed in stable condition, firefighters said. The cause of the accident was being investigated, deputies said. 

Seward man killed in accident 
By JENNI DILLON Peninsula Clarion 
A 24-year-old Seward man was killed Saturday in an industrial accident at Afognak Construction in Seward. Pete Fretwell, a former mechanics student at the Alaska Vocational Technical Center in Seward, was changing the tire on a dump truck when a split rim blew off the tire, striking Fretwell in the forehead and killing him instantly, according to Alaska State Troopers. Sgt. Brandon Anderson, stationed with the troopers in Seward, responded to the call, which came in about noon Saturday. Anderson said Fretwell was working on reinstalling the front tire of an older dump truck when the accident occurred. Like many older trucks, the vehicle had a split rim ‹ a steel ring that helps hold the tire in place. Anderson said split rims have been considered hazardous for many years, and tires usually are inflated within a steel cage to protect workers from possible split rim accidents. Afognak Construction personnel acted according to that procedure, Anderson said, inflating the tire within a cage Friday. “It held firm” Anderson said. It wasn’t until a crew rolled the tire outside and was using an air wrench to put the lug nuts on that the split rim blew. “It blew off with explosive force,” Anderson said. The piece of metal struck Fretwell in the forehead. Troopers and Seward police responded to the accident, and Seward Emergency Medical Services also were called. Fretwell was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Construction accident leads to death 
6/30/2003 
A 59-year-old man who worked for a Fairburn construction company was crushed and killed June 23 by a back-hoe on Autry Mill Road. The incident occurred at the Atlanta-Fulton County Water Treatment Plant, near the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve, at about 8:30 a.m. Leonard Albert McCright of Monroe was killed when the bucket of a back-hoe driven by his brother, John E. McCright, 60, was lowered, crushing him. he victim had been standing on a ladder about 15 feet off the ground that was leaning against the top of a temporary steel plate, which covered a pipe. He was waiting for the back-hoe to lower a chain so he could attach it to the plate so workers could pull it off the ground. The victim was on one side of a 16-foot concrete wall and the back-hoe was on the other. McCright reportedly yelled for his brother to lower the arm of the back-hoe over the wall. No one saw what happened after that, police said. It appears when the bucket came down it pinned the victim between the top of the plate and the bucket. The two brothers worked for Reynolds Inc. construction company. 

Crane Accident at Construction Site Kills Five
Five workers were killed yesterday morning when a crane beam broke and fell at an apartment construction site in Pyongtaek, Kyonggi Province. Four others were seriously injured and are receiving medical care at nearby hospitals. The workers were working above the crane when its beam broke, causing them to fall 45 meters to the ground below, killing five instantly. Police are investigating the exact cause of the accident. 

Man killed in building collapse in Little Elm 
06/30/2003 From Staff Reports 
One man was killed and two others were injured after a storage building collapsed as they tried to dismantle it, officials said. A 38-year-old man was killed when the 20-foot-by-20-foot building collapsed on him and he and the two men, said Little Elm firefighter Robert Brown. The men were tearing down the small, square-shaped shed at Oakwood and Boys Club roads in the Rocky Point neighborhood near Lewisville Lake when it collapsed around 9 a.m., said Shawn Russell of the Little Elm Fire Department. Two men were taken to Denton Region Medical Hospital, one with a broken leg and the other with cuts and bruises. Officials declined to release the name of the men pending notification of relatives. The men worked for a local construction company, said sheriff’s Lt. Kevin Patton. Little Elm is about 20 miles northwest of Dallas. 

HSWA Section 7(a) prosecution of site foreman
Mr John Cullen, a site foreman employed by O’Rourke Civil and Structural Engineering Limited, has been fined £1,500 with HSE costs of £1,380 after he pleaded guilty at the City of London Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 25th June, to a breach of Section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Mr Cullen’s prosecution related to an accident at the new Sutton Police Station project in Surrey on 12th November 2001, his employers were the project Principal Contractors. Unsafe system of work – Mr Cullen was given the task of establishing the site, which included the erection of a site hoarding around the perimeter. Several large advertising billboards were in place around the site, and had to be removed to accommodate the hoarding. The client had agreed to remove the billboards, but there were several delays in this being carried out. The foreman had already arranged for some of the advertising billboards to be removed by having them lifted into the site with an excavator and a lifting sling. However, the Project Manager told him to stop, as arrangements were made for the client to remove the billboards, and it was not part of the O’Rourke method statement. On Monday 12th November 2001 Mr Ron Given began work on the site as a joiner, employed to help make sections of the site hoarding. That afternoon it was decided to remove a large advertising billboard. This required access at height, to remove the frame of the billboard. Under the supervision of Mr Cullen an excavator assisted them. The bucket was turned around on the machine, and Mr Given climbed into the bucket to be lifted to the top of the billboard, a height of approximately five metres. The bucket fell from the machine tippingout Mr Given who fell to the ground with the excavator bucket falling onto his legs. Unable to work again- Mr Given sustained two badly fractured legs and it is unlikely that he will be able to work again, he can still only walk a short distance with the aid of sticks. HSE investigation revealed that the safety pin had not been inserted in the quick-hitch, and that the warning buzzer on the quick-hitch switch was not working. Nevertheless, Mr Given would not have been injured if Mr Cullen had intervened to prevent this highly unsafe system of work. Section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: “It shall be the duty of every employee while at work to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work.”

Fire at mall
No evacuations were needed late Friday morning when a welder accidentally ignited a grease fire in an exhaust duct in a mechanical area that is off-limits to the public but situated near the food court at the West Ridge Mall, a Topeka Fire Department official said. A mall security guard felt shortness of breath after trying to put out the blaze from the building’s roof and was taken to a Topeka hospital to be checked out, said Battalion Chief Edward Gerhardt, of the Topeka Fire Department. Gerhardt said the blaze did an estimated $500 damage inside the mall at 1801 S.W. Wanamaker Road. Firefighters were called at 11:33 a.m., said Fire Department Shift Commander John Lord. Gerhardt said the fire was ignited in a mechanical area just below the roof in an exhaust duct that leads outdoors from a grill at a former Burger King site in the food court. That mechanical area is off-limits to the public. A worker was welding a new section of duct work to the existing section when grease inside the older section ignited ccidentally, according to Gerhardt. He said firefighters were able to put out the blaze easily. 

N.C. firefighters rescue worker buried in ditch; Labor officials investigating site incident
The Associated Press
GOLDSBORO, N.C. – A man helping to install a sewer tap was buried for 20 minutes Friday morning when the ditch in which he was working collapsed. Firefighters who answered the call for help found only an arm sticking out of the mud when they arrived at the construction site. Fire Chief Bobby Greenfield said rescuers slid an oxygen mask to the trapped worker, so he could breathe while they dug him out. The trapped man’s arm was numb because of the pressure on it from the dirt, assistant fire chief Jerry Langston said. But he was breathing fine when he was unearthed. “I feel like he will be OK,” he said. “The guys did a great job getting him out.” The man was taken to Wayne Memorial Hospital. The hospital and the fire department did not release his name or condition. The worker was installing pipe to a private residence, Greenfield said. A sewer tap is where pipes from a house line connect with a city sewer line. No one else was in the ditch when it collapsed. Greenfield said the area around the ditch was damp, and that could have caused the walls to cave in. City plumbing inspector Russell Lawrence said the contractor working on the site was Mark Burlingame. Efforts to find a telephone number for him were unsuccessful. Greenfield said officials from the N.C. Department of Labor were investigating the accident, and he didn’t know if charges would be filed. Labor spokeswoman Dolores Quesenberry said the department would not comment until it finishes investigating. 

Worker Freed After Crane Collapse; No Word On Worker’s Condition
Story by Boston Channel 
REVERE, Mass. — A worker was rescued in Revere Thursday afternoon when a huge crane he was operating collapsed in an industrial area. The scene of the accident was the Global Oil Company in Revere. The worker eventually was extracted and there is no word on his condition. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating whether the company and the crane’s owners, Glancy Crane based in Avon, had complied with all safety measures. 

Part of house falls on worker; Man in critical condition after crushed in Thursday accident in Livermore
By Scott Steinberg STAFF WRITER 
Saturday, June 28, 2003 – LIVERMORE — A Newark man was in critical condition Friday, a day after part of a house fell on him. Victor Rivas was a member of a six-person crew from Pleasanton-based Call and Haul. The crew was demolishing a single-story, 1,100-square-foot home at 1894 Elm St. in Livermore, the fire department said. While removing some of the interior walls, the roof — which was intact — fell through the house about 7:50 a.m. Some of Rivas’s co-workers dragged him out of the house, although he was still covered with part of the roof until firefighters extricated him, Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Capt. Paul Legasa said. Rescue crews erected a temporary shore before removing Rivas from the rubble. An ambulance took the injured construction worker to Junction Avenue Middle School, where he was airlifted to the Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley. Rivas was under the roof for 16 minutes, Legasa said. Jeff Cobkins, president of Call and Haul, spent most of Thursday at the hospital with Rivas and his family. He said Rivas is in his 20s and does not have a wife or children. “He’s a good person,” Cobkins said. “It’s rough, really rough. Our prayers are going out towards Victor.” He added that this is Call and Haul’s first accident. Part of the roof also fell on a gas meter, forcing Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to cut away the structure and shut off the valve. Legasa said the fire department brought three engines, one ladder truck and a rescue rig designed for collapsed buildings, along with 16 rescue personnel. The captain added that Rivas was conscious before he was transported to the hospital. The state’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration is investigating the accident. 

Texas man dies when building collapses 
06/29/03 By MAX SMITH Staff Reporter
A demolition worker from Texas was killed in southeast Mobile County on Saturday after the eight-story building he and four others were working on collapsed prematurely, authorities said. Darrel Sallas, who was in his 40s, was weakening girders with blowtorches at the base of an abandoned building owned by BASF Corp. on the Degussa Corp. property off Rangeline Road, according to Lt. David Hill, supervisor of the Criminal Investigations Division of the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department. BASF is the North American affiliate of BASF AG of Germany. The building collapsed about 1:30 p.m. as the men were working, Hill said. Four of the men ran one way and escaped, while Sallas ran another way and never made it out. Sallas’ body was visible at the edge of the rubble, Hill said. “He was so close to making it,” Hill said. It appears that one of the beams or some concrete hit Sallas as he was trying to make his way out, Hill said. His body was turned over to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to determine cause of death. “You can imagine eight stories collapsing in on itself,” Hill said. “It was pretty chaotic … a rough scene.” Sallas was working for a demolition company based in New Jersey, Hill said. Further information on Sallas was not available, because he wasn’t carrying identification. Keith Jones, a spokesman with Degussa, identified the demolition company as R. Baker and Sons All Industrial Services. The building that collapsed was the last major building left of BASF’s acetal plant on the property, according to Wolfgang Heim, manufacturing supervisor for the plant. Demolition started in January. The BASF plant made acetal under the brand name UltraForm. The material is an acetal copolymer resin, which is a type of industrial plastic used in conveyer systems, gears, automotive parts, appliances and toys. UltraForm was started in 1988 as a joint project between BASF and Degussa, Heim said. In 1999, BASF decided to buy the whole venture, then decided to stop production last summer for financial and economic reasons. Degussa remained the owner of the property where the plant was built, Heim said. The New Jersey demolition company won a bidding process for the project and has previously worked in Alabama, Heim said. Representatives with R. Baker and Sons could not be reached for comment Saturday. 

Dump truck backs over road worker 
CAMDENTON, Mo. (AP) — A 58-year-old road worker was killed Thursday morning when a dump truck backed over him, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. Harold Morrison, of Macks Creek, was working on a construction project along Missouri 5 near Camdenton around 8:28 a.m. when the dump truck backed up to dump asphalt and ran over Morrison, the patrol said. Morrison didn’t notice the truck was backing toward him, the patrol said. Morrison was pronounced dead at the scene.

Excavating Crew Causes Manchester Gas Leak
BY KRISTA PRIMROSE, Times-Union Staff Writer
NORTH MANCHESTER – Natural gas clouded North Manchester when a Bunn Inc. excavating crew accidentally hit an 8-inch steel gas main line around 3 p.m. Monday. The gas main, which provides service to a large section of North Manchester, began releasing gas after a bulldozer struck a service “T” at the corner of Main and Mill streets. Gas rushed out of the hole, sounding like a waterfall, until 9 p.m., when a properly equipped NIPSCO crew arrived on the scene. North Manchester Fire Department was notified of the leak about 3 p.m. and contacted NIPSCO immediately. At 3:17 p.m. a second call requesting immediate assistance was made and minutes later, homes and businesses within four blocks of the leak were evacuated. NIPSCO service trucks arrived at 5 p.m. but found that, due to the size of the leak, special equipment was needed. A welding crew from Monticello was needed to stop gas flow to the line in both directions. The gas flow was finally stopped around 9:30 p.m. and workers finished repairing the main about :30 a.m. today. Larry Graham, NIPSCO spokesman, said isolating the gas flow and shutting off only the damaged section was in the town’s best interest. Though the leak could have been stopped immediately, by disconnecting service to the line, a large portion of North Manchester would have been without gas services until the line was fixed. The Bunn excavating site superintendent, who declined to give his name, said the line was supposed to be abandoned, thus accommodating his team’s work. He declined to state whose responsibility it was to ensure the line was inactive. According to Graham, the gas line was on NIPSCO’s schedule for lowering next week. This change in depth was planned to accommodate digging for the CVS construction. Estimates regarding how much gas escaped are not yet available. No long-term effects are expected from the leak. 

WTC Site Worker Killed; Death in accident is first since 9/11
By Alfonso A. Castillo STAFF WRITER; Staff writers Carrie Mason-Draffen, Graham Rayman and Tom Demoretcky contributed to this story. June 26, 2003
A Farmingdale man became the first worker in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site to die on the job when he was crushed while painting part of a commuter rail station, authorities said. Officials said Hugo Martinez, 36, was being carried in a construction lift about 20 feet off the ground when he was crushed. He was found dead yesterday morning by other workers. Martinez had been painting the temporary PATH station being built at the site, but the exact sequence of events was unclear yesterday. Allen Levine, of L&L Painting in Hicksville, where Martinez worked for about eight years, said the victim was working in a basket as one of five employees at the time of the accident. “I’m not aware of all the facts. OSHA [The Occupational Safety and Health Administration] has taken charge of the investigation. They have taken the lift away and have sent us a letter requesting certain information,” Levine said. “I get a chill every time I think about it. It’s a terrible thing.” Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman fo r the Port Authority, which owns the site, said OSHA was investigating. “It is the first accident-related fatality since September 11, 2001,” DiFulco said. “The safety record there has been exceptional.” Relatives said Martinez exemplified the American dream in his Sunset Avenue home, where he lived with his wife of six years, Marta, and three sons ages 1 to 5. Martinez immigrated to New York about 15 years ago from his native Paraguay, where his family lived humble lives. He lived in Flushing and worked various jobs while studying English until he became fluent. Along the way, he met and fell in love with Marta and soon started a family of his own. He found work as a painter and made a name for himself through his steadfast work ethic – sometimes working two jobs. He eventually saved enough money to buy his home in Farmingdale, but still kept his family in South America a top priority. He bought his mother a house there and was putting his sister through college, the relatives added. “He lived for his family over there,” said Martinez’s sister-in-law Florencia Nuñez, who lived with the couple. “He took such good care of them.” Martinez’s living room was filled with mementos of a life well lived. A photography enthusiast, Martinez kept dozens of framed photos of his family on walls and counters – his sons sitting on the lap of a department store Santa Claus, he and his wife in an embrace on their wedding day. Nuñez thumbed through hundreds of other recently developed photos – pictures from his oldest son Palermo’s 5th birthday party, his youngest, Cameron, playing in the tub, and the three boys lying next to each other on the couch. Ivan, 2, grabbed one of the photos and held it with both hands as he gazed at it with familiarity. Nuñez said Palermo took the news hard. “He knows that when somebody is not well, they go to heaven,” she said through tears. “He said, ‘I’m not going to have food anymore.'” Nuñez said funeral arrangements are being handled by Arthur F. White Funeral Home in Bethpage. The family plans to fly the remains to Paraguay for burial. Officials with Martinez’s union, District Council 9 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, did not return a phone call yesterday. L&L Painting, which employs about 300 people, is working as a subcontractor for a Yonkers, Tully, Pegno joint venture under contract with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. According to OSHA records, the agency fined L&L several times in the past six years, but the violations didn’t involve fatalities. The fines ranged from several hundred dollars to several thousand and included citations for scaffolding defects and inadequate fall-protection equipment. Staff writers Carrie Mason-Draffen, Graham Rayman and Tom Demoretcky contributed to this story. 

Construction worker tumbles to death from ninth storey
The Gazette Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Fatal fall at construction site: Second major accident in two weeks at new e-commerce project downtown. A construction worker in his 40s plunged almost 30 metres to his death Monday at the site of the Cité de la Commerce Électronique after part of a platform he was working on collapsed. The work-related death was the second major accident in two weeks at the construction site, the future home of the provincial government subsidized e-commerce complex. Urgences Santé technicians travelling south in an ambulance on Crescent St. watched the final seconds of the worker’s descent before he landed in a pile of rubble. The worker, whose name has not been made public, had ventured onto a platform on the ninth floor, where the safety jacks had apparently been removed. It took several minutes to free the man from the debris. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. The construction site is at the corner of René Lévesque Blvd. and Lucien L’Allier St. The Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail, the provincial workplace health and safety board, has opened an investigation of the death. On June 10, a pedestrian suffered a broken leg when a load of steel pipes fell from a crane and rolled over him. After that accident, the board was called in to investigate and immediately found flaws in the safety process. The sidewalk between the crane and the construction site had not been closed to pedestrians and there were no clear markings to warn passers-by of the danger. 

UPDATE Crane falls at construction site, injuring worker 
An internal investigation continues today to determine why a section of a crane fell six feet onto a construction worker’s leg at the site of what will be a new indoor football practice facility adjacent to Jack Trice Stadium. Leslie Johnson, 46, of Omaha, Neb., was part of a three-man crew that was shortening the crane’s boom on Wednesday afternoon. A section fell on his left leg trapping him for a matter of minutes. He was freed by workers with equipment on the construction site before fire and medical crews arrived to stabilize him. Johnson was taken to Mary Greeley Medical Center where he was treated for a broken leg and listed in fair condition Wednesday night. A hospital spokesman said this morning that Johnson had been transferred, but no further details were available. “One of the things that really helped was the fast reaction of the employees that were here, that realized the situation and got other equipment on site to the scene and got things under control,” said Mike Tousley, the president of the eitz Co. The 60-ton crane had its boom resting on the ground when the accident occurred. Workers were removing several pins from a joint in the boom when a section fell to the ground and injured Johnson, Tousley said. The crane was being shortened to pick up and place a section of steel, he said. “All proper safety issues were followed,” Tousley said. He would not comment on how the accident occurred or the process that workers go through when dismantling a crane’s boom. Tousley cited the ongoing investigation as the reason for not offering many details of the accident. The Weitz Company is the project’s contractor and the company that hired the crane subcontractor, J.P. Cullen & Sons, Inc., which is based in Wisconsin. Johnson was employed by the Cullen company, Tousley said. The $9.6 million practice facility is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. Construction crews sent many workers home a few hours early on Wednesday. Workers returned this morning. Tousley estimated 15 to 20 workers were on the construction site when the accident occurred. “It was a tough situation for everyone involved,” Tousley said. “Everyone was concerned with the welfare of the employee.” 

Construction Worker Injured In Memorial Stadium Renovation
POSTED: 8:52 a.m. CDT June 20, 2003
NORMAN, Okla. — A construction worker is in critical condition after falling 68 feet from the new second deck being built on the University of Oklahoma football stadium. Ian Cox, 19, suffered a broken back and brain swelling, officials said Thursday. Project officials said they haven’t completed an investigation into the accident, but said Cox fell about 1 p.m. Wednesday while working on handrails at the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. “It was just a freak accident,” said Mark Rose, a spokesman for Advanced Masonry, a subcontractor on the project.

Two injured at American Tobacco
By: News 14 Carolina Staff
Two men working on renovations at the American Tobacco Complex are recovering from an onsite accident. The two were on scaffolding about 15 feet in the air when part of a brick wall fell and knocked them to the ground. Both were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. 

Punctured gas line leaves many without 
June 21, 2003
Two major Camarillo retail centers and hundreds of residents were without gas Friday as Southern California Gas Co. employees worked to restore service to about 1,000 customers after a line was struck by a construction worker. The stores of Target Center, Camarillo Outlets and Old Town Camarillo were among those whose gas was cut off when the worker hit a 6-inch line while installing a storm drain at 21 Lewis Road, near Highway 101, in conjunction with a highway project. Shortly before 1 p.m., fire officials got a call about the break. While workers tried to isolate where the line was damaged, the company shut off gas south of the freeway from Lewis Road west to Las Posas Road. Traffic on Ventura Boulevard was redirected. Gas Co. officials expected employees to work all night Friday repairing the line. Tags with a phone number to call to have service restored were left on doors where occupants were not home. Anyone who still doesn’t have gas service today should call (800) 427-2200. 

Water main ruptures in city of Shasta Lake 
Scott Mobley Record Searchlight June 20, 2003 — 2:12 a.m.
Shasta Lake officials asked residents to squelch their water use Thursday while crews fixed a ruptured main. Some 30 households around the Montana Street leak went without water much of the day. Workers had to cut them off to replace about a foot of severed steel pipe. The leak hit the city’s 50-year-old main transmission line, which brings in water from the west, said Chuck Robinson, water treatment supervisor. “It was kind of a fluke,” Robinson said. “We get leaks all the time. This one just happened to be in a bad spot.” The Bella Vista Water District shipped Shasta Lake some water to help it survive until crews finished repairing the line around 3 p.m. The two jurisdictions help each other out in emergencies under an agreement inked during the early-1990s drought. The pipe ruptured shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday. The city lost about 120,000 gallons of water over the next 12 hours, Robinson estimates. The city of Shasta Lake typically consumes 4 million to 5 million gallons of water per day. Jose Castro, a lead worker for the city’s public works department, blamed the leak on construction damage. A grader had scratched the pipe where it burst, he said.