AT&T night cut proves to be deadly for 33-year-old Washington tower technician
September 16, 2008 - Updated September 19, 2008 - A Bonney Lake tower technician fell to his death from an elevator shaft in Port Angeles, Washington while performing a night cut.
Authorities say 33-year old Jeremy Combs died just after midnight last Friday when he fell from the exterior of the elevator shaft on top of the Elks building in downtown Port Angeles.
Port Angeles police received the emergency call at 12:01 a.m., and Combs was still alive when paramedics and police officers arrived.
He was pronounced dead at Olympic Medical Center at 1:43 a.m.
Combs was about 32 feet up the shaft when he fell to the building's rooftop. According to Port Angeles police, Combs was part of a crew of Emerald Wireless Communications, Inc. sub-contracting for AT&T.
According to Rick White, Labor and Industries compliance officer, Combs was not wearing safety equipment when he fell.
White said the antenna mounts were about 4.5 feet high, and stood atop the building's elevator shaft.
Combs lost his balance and fell backward onto a lower roof on the fourth floor, White said.
The Buckley antenna and line company was established in 2000.
Combs was the tenth communications worker killed this year from falling from an elevated structure. Four of them were on AT&T projects.
Funeral services for the well-respected tower foreman will be held at Yahn and Son Funeral Home, 55 West Valley Highway, Auburn, on Wednesday, September 17 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Jeremy is survived by his wife, and their two children, Robert Allen Scott and Ashley Joy. He is also survived by his Grandfather Robert White, Mother Susan Combs, Sisters, Cindy Bates (Joey), Kristen Kirkland (Jay), and Michelle Manuel (Steve), and many nieces, nephews, extended family and dear friends.
Prior to his employment with Emerald Wireless, he worked for Brookstone Construction, Wren Construction and Steelhead Construction.
See: Four hundred pay tribute to Combs
