2 window washers rescued after scaffold collapse in Texas

A firefighter rescues a window washer on Thursday from the side of a 12-story office building in Irving, Texas

June 22, 2000
Web posted at: 2:11 p.m. EDT (1811 GMT)

IRVING, Texas (CNN) -- Firefighters on Thursday rescued two window washers from the side of a 12-story office building in Irving, Texas, after their scaffolding buckled and left them hanging about 100 feet in the air for more than two hours.

No one was hurt in the accident.

Rescuers were called to the roof of the Waterway Tower in the Las Colinas area of Irving, a suburb of Dallas, on Thursday morning, according to Assistant Fire Chief Mike Evitts. The scaffolding had buckled into a V-shape.

"The scaffold looks like it's collapsed in the center, but the cables holding it are just as strong as they were previously," Evitts said.

The two workers were left clinging to the cables and rails of the scaffolding.

Firefighters rappelled from the roof of the office building and attached a harness to each of the men, then lowered them to the ground, one at a time.

The first man lowered to the ground was calm, Evitts told CNN.

"He was glad to get down, but they're professionals. They hang off buildings all day long. He didn't think it was that big a deal," Evitts said.

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