4th Death of 2009

Article courtesy of WirelessEstimator.com

Oklahoma tower technician falls to death in Missouri

September 14, 2009 - An Okla. tower technician died this morning when he reportedly fell from the top of a 325-foot guyed tower in Oregon County, Mo. as he was transitioning without being tied off.
Oregon County Deputy Coroner Robert Clary said that Justin Stamps, 26, of Wagoner fell from the structure and died immediately from blunt force trauma.

Stamps was employed by S&S Communication Specialists Inc. The Hurlbert, Okla. tower erector recently completed installation of the U.S. Cellular structure located about two miles west of the junction of US Hwy. 160 and Hwy. 99 at Thomasville.

The Rover Volunteer Fire Department provided an immediate response to the tower site, and was preparing for a helicopter lift (audio), but Clary pronounced Stamps dead at the scene at 9:06 a.m.

Reports indicate that the experienced rigger was not attached to a safe anchorage point when he fell. OSHA is investigating.

S&S Communications is owned by brothers Kenneth and Randall Shankle who have 55 years of experience between them. The company is one of U.S. Cellular's primary contractors.

Kenneth Shankle said that Stamps had been with his company for less than a year, but had experience with a number of companies prior to his employment. He said that until such time that OSHA has completed their investigation he would not want to speculate as to how the accident occurred.

Stamps is the fourth fatality this year of a tower technician falling from an elevated structure.

Stamps was “moving up” on the tower when he fell more than 300 feet to his death, his mother, Tina Stamps.

“They were finished where they were working and getting ready to move up the tower,” Stamps said she was told by an S&S Communications Specialist official. “He went to hook up, and he missed.”

Besides his job, Stamps loved bull riding and anything western, but most of all he loved people, his friends and family said.

That love of people was evidenced today as dozens of cars and pickups lined the long driveway to the home of his parents, Randy and Tina Stamps. Another dozen cars that couldn’t get into the driveway lined the county road in front of the house, according to the Muscogee Phoenix.

Funeral services for Stamps are being planned with Hersman-Nichols Funeral Home of Wagoner.

Justin is survived by his parents, Randy and Tina Stamps of  Wagoner and Alan Cook of Porter; his sisters, Amber Stamps of Wagoner and Christy Warren and husband Robert of Muskogee; his brothers, Ronnie Stamps and wife Jessica and Chouteau and Teddy Cook of Porter; grandparents, Grady and Jane Lawhorn of Wagoner and Tommy Stamps of Pryor.

3rd Death of 2009

Article courtesy of WirelessEstimator.com

Tower tech succumbs in Texas following fall
 
UPDATE July 20, 2009 -Visitation services for Lucas Tucker will be held Tuesday, July 21, from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the Baumgardner Funeral Home, 212 N. Tarrant St., Crowley, TX.
A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22 at the Crowley Cemetery located on the 100 block of N. Hampton St., Crowley.
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July 18, 2009 - A tower technician working in De Kalb, TX was killed this afternoon after falling from a communications tower owned by AT&T Mobility at 640 Route 82.

Lucas Tucker, 28, of Crowley, had been running transmission lines in snap-in hangers at approximately the100-foot level on the 337-foot guyed tower when he fell, reportedly hitting the structure's ice bridge.

A fellow worker on the three-man crew was approximately 20 feet below Tucker, but reportedly did not hear him raise his voice in distress as he brushed him on the way down.

The accident happened at approximately 2:30 p.m. and De Kalb's emergency medical personnel were at the tower site within minutes. Tucker was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was employed by Lariat Communications, a subcontractor that was hired to install a Metro PCS co-location. The Burleson, TX company is owned by Ralph Hines.

Tucker, who had more than ten years of experience in climbing, is survived by his parents as well as two brothers who also work in the industry.

Tucker was the third worker killed this year after falling from a communications structure while performing professional services for a client.

Services are expected to be announced on Monday. OSHA is investigating the fatality.

De Kalb is a small Texas community of less than 1,800 people located 35 miles west of Texarkana.

2nd Death of 2009

Article courtesy of WirelessEstimator.com

Arkansas climber dies after falling from Mississippi self-supporter after reported equipment failure
 
Update: June 8, 2009 - According to Shane Duschen's wife, Shanon, her husband was not careless on the tower when he fell on June 3, but his safety equipment failed, causing his death.
"Let this be a lesson to all of you in this profession. Do not take for granted that you are 100% safe as there is never a guarantee. Please do routine inspections of your belts and harnesses," the distraught mother of three young girls said.

A number of people knowledgeable about the incident said that Duschen's lanyard is still attached to the tower this morning and he had his relatively new harness on when he was pronounced dead at the base of the 250-foot self supporting tower.

Officials have prohibited anyone from climbing the tower to retrieve it until a representative of OSHA is on site later today to receive the equipment to further assess what could have caused the accident.
The coroner's report identified that Duschen and co-worker Richard Rippee just finished lunch before he fell, but according to others close to the accident, the two tower technicians were up near the 217-foot level mounting frame preparing to receive transmission lines.
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Update: June 6, 2009 - Visitation for family and friends of Shane Duschen will be on Sunday, June 7 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Mid Town Baptist Church, 4037 Boone Rd., Benton, AR. Services will start at 2:00 p.m.

A memorial fund has been set up for his family and contributions can be made to:

Shane Duschen Memorial Fund, c/o Simmons First National Bank, Account #10836514, L/R Geyer Springs Branch, 8500 Geyer Springs Rd., Little Rock, AR 72209. For additional information, contact the bank at 501-570-0800.
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June 4, 2009 - Shane Duschen, 28, of Alexander, AR, died yesterday afternoon after he fell 215 feet from a 250' self-supporting tower he was working on in Leland, MS.

He leaves his wife, Shanon, and their three daughters, age 7, 5 and 2.

Duschen was working with a four-man crew on a Crown Castle International tower off of Highway 61.

His employer, Diamond K Tower Co., Inc. of Greenville, was working directly for T- Mobile to install additional transmission lines.
Duschen, who began his employment with Diamond K Tower in 2002, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 911 call was made by coworker Richard Rippee immediately after Duschen fell, according to Washington County Coroner Methel Johnson. The estimated time of Duschen's death was about 3:00 p.m.
Rippee said that he and Duschen had just finished eating lunch and were talking when Dushen simply fell from the tower, according to the coroner's report.
Johnson said Duschen was wearing a harness when he fell.
OSHA is on site investigating the fatality.

In addition to T-Mobile, the tower is co-located by Sprint PCS and AT&T Mobility.

Duschen's death is the second fatality  this year of a communications technician falling from an elevated structure. A tower technician wearing a harness fell off a monopole on March 17 and died in Lake Worth, FL.
Owned by Mike Kuhn, who has 31 years of experience in the tower business, Diamond K Tower has specialized in cellular tower construction for the past 16 years.

1st Death of 2009

Article courtesy of WirelessEstimator.com  

Florida cell tech fatality is country's first in 2009

March 17, 2009 - Updated March 19, 2009  - A tower technician wearing a harness fell off a monopole and died about noon today on Heritage Farms Road and U.S. 441, in Lake Worth, Fl.,  authorities said.

The man who died, 36-year-old Clinton Waters of Lake Wales, worked for Skyhawk Wireless Staffing, a specialized temp agency hired by Andrew Construction Services to work on the monopalm.

It is unclear how the accident occurred because the worker was wearing safety gear, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said, but they could not identify if the worker was tied off to the structure at the time that he fell or if it was an equipment failure.

The height of the tower was 120 feet, according to Captain Don Delucia with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.

The man and his co-worker were both on the new structure being built for T-Mobile. They were part of a five-member crew.

Representatives of Andrew Construction Services and OSHA are expected to be on site tomorrow to identify what might have caused Waters' death.

Bulletin board posts and a news blog said the incident might have occurred when Waters was transitioning from a man basket to the monopalm.

However, according to a number of people knowledgeable about the accident, Waters had been working on the monopalm for almost three hours prior to his sudden fall.

Although there was a man basket on the job, in a picture taken immediately after the accident, the basket is sitting on the bed of the crane, detached from any rigging.

Other news pictures show what appears to be two safety lines on the structure. It also appears that the fronds were stored at the tower site and were not being installed at the time of the worker's fall.

He was the first industry fatality in 2009.

Waters began his career in Florida in 1996 with Atlantic Tower Construction, Inc., managed by Brian and Ann Silk. The Silks later founded United Telecom of Central Florida, Inc. and Waters worked there a number of times. He moved on to other companies during the past 12 years, including Andrew Systems Inc., and his most recent position was as a subcontracted technician with the Skyhawk staffing firm.

"Clint was a very hard worker and was always trying to better himself. He was quick witted and was sure to make you laugh with his humor," said Brian Silk who was taken back by the tragic news.

Many people described waters as a good family man who befriended countless tower workers.

"I think that all of us who have known him can say it has been a great loss for a close circle of friends that through the years have had to part our own ways. I'm sorry for his wife and children who have to deal with his loss," said former co-worker and friend Scott Bartle.

Waters was married and had a son and daughter.

Last May, a tower maintenance worker died when he fell from a TV tower in Miami. The broadcast tower is adjacent to where WirelessEstimator.com is currently following the construction of a 1,000-foot tall digital tower.

Following Texas, Florida appears to have more tower companies and crews than any other state in the country.

12th Death of 2008

Article courtesy of WirelessEstimator.com

Tucson technician dies following 65-foot fall

November 18, 2008 - Updated November 19, 2008 - A 22-year-old tower technician working approximately 65 feet up on a tower fell to the ground today while adding equipment to the tower, said Todd Cupell, spokesman for the Corona de Tucson Fire Department in Arizona.
Cupell said the man was unconscious and unresponsive, but alive and in critical condition when he was taken by helicopter to a local hospital.

However, a spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff's Department said that Edward Wallen had died from his injuries.

Cupell said that original reports that the worker was a woman were incorrect.
The tower is located at 16336 S. Houghton Road, about a half mile south of Houghton and Sahuarita roads. The emergency call came in at 12:31 p.m., according to authorities.

The tech was working with another employee of Wallen Communications, based out of Tucson and Phoenix. Established in 2001, the company specializes in cell site construction and broadcast microwave installation.
"I don't know for sure whether it was operator error or if it was the equipment he was using," Cupell said.
Cupell said the structure is a self supporting tower that had been built and remained vacant for a couple of years, but had recently seen tenant activity. He was unaware of the tower's current owner.

The FCC's database does not identify a registered structure at 16336 S. Houghton Road, but shows an 82-foot structure for Alltel Communications at 16355 S. Houghton Road.

11th Death of 2008

Article courtesy of WirelessEstimator.com

Police seeking to identify if deceased worker fell from tower prior to falling through skylight
 
October 24, 2008 - Update 10/25/08 - Ellensburg, Washington police say that they are investigating the death of a  24-year-old man who died yesterday afternoon after a 35-foot fall through a skylight from a tower atop the roof of Kelleher Motor Company.
 "A worker on the roof fell through the skylight onto the concrete floor in the shop," said Dave Radcliff, captain paramedic with Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue.
According to a police official, Gary D. Sivey, a Central Washington University student was an employee of Cascade 1 Inc., a wireless internet provider.
Radcliff said the man may have either walked onto the skylight and fell or fell from even higher up from a tower on the roof.
The worker was taken to Kittitas Valley Community Hospital, suffering from "massive multi-system trauma." He was suffering from a cardiac arrest when emergency personnel arrived.

10th Death of 2008

Article courtesy of WirelessEstimator.com

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