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

9th Death of 2008

Article courtesy of WirelessEstimator.com

Painter succumbs at base of broadcast tower site

July 21, 2007 - A tower painter was discovered by a broadcast engineer at the base of WDAZ's 1,400-foot tower in Petersburg, ND yesterday.
The Nelson County Sheriff's Department responded to a call at about 6:00 P.M. from the station's engineer, Nate Millard, who discovered the body of 38-year-old Darrel Hovde of Mandan.
Authorities said Hovde worked for All State Tower Company of Bismarck.
Hoyde was working alone painting the tower, Millard said, at about the 100-foot level. When Millard looked out a second story window he said he discovered the tower painter laying on his side in a semi-fetal position.
It appeared to Millard that Hoyde had fallen from the TV tower. "You could see where a trail of paint ended about 50 feet up," Millard said.
Millard said Hoyde still had his safety equipment on. Hovde's body has been sent to Bismarck for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. If the coroner identifies that Hoyde died from blunt trauma, he will be the ninth communications worker that was killed this year from falling from a communications tower.

8th Death of 2008

Article courtesy of WirelessEstimator.com

New Jersey tech is the nation's eighth fatality
 
July 19, 2008 - Vineland New Jersey Police Chief Timothy Codispoti has confirmed that the nation lost another tower technician this year when a Franklinville man died yesterday after falling approximately 60 feet from a cell phone tower yesterday.

Gerard M. Leclercq, employed by Paramount Advanced Wireless LLC of Pennsauken, was working with two other crew members when he fell. The 55-year-old tower technician had been working on a Crown Castle International tower off of Panther Rd.
Leclercq, who reportedly had family working for him in the industry, fell at approximately 10:50 a.m. while his two coworkers were on the ground, according to Vineland Detective Sergeant Len Wolf.
Investigators from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were on the scene and investigating the incident until late Friday evening.
Paramount Advanced Wireless LLC is a well-known, long-established company that has its roots in the communications industry since the early build-out days of cellular communications. The firm has taken an active role in tower safety and is a participant in an industry OSHA safety alliance.
Leclercq's death was the eighth fatality in 2008 of a worker falling from a communications structure.