Two workers rescued after being trapped in elevator in Fairport
By: WROC-TV
Updated: November 30, 2007
Two men were trapped in an elevator Thursday after the lift gave way. One of the men was trapped for nearly three hours before being freed. 32 year old Jeremy Fernaays of Williamson is in guarded condition at Strong Hospital. Also, 58 year old Nester Irazarry of Rochester was also taken to Strong. The two men were loading a freight elevator Thrusday morning when it gave way beneath them."It looks like one of the support members failed at the roof which caused the floor of the elevator to drop and kind of kick down," says Fairport Fire Chief Dave Compton. And down with it came two workers and a five thousand pound forklift. "The floor of the elevator was actually tipped at a 45 degree angle the tow motor slid and trapped the two victims against an outside concrete wall and the shaftway." The two men fell from the first floor to the basement, between a 10 and 14 foot drop. Within 45 minutes rescue workers were able to free one man, but it took 3 hours to free the second. "The second victim was entrapped from the waist down with multipe injuries he had injuries to his head he had lacerations and multiple fractures from the waist down." Firefighters had to stabilize the broken equipment around him before they could pull the forklift off him. "When we pulled the tow mower off him due to his lower extremity injuries he lost consciencnous and his pulse but because life support was on scene they were able to get him back and get a strong pulse," says Compton.
Represenatives from OSHA - the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating this accident as well. Anything they find will likely be released, but there's no timeline on how long that could take.
