Conn. Workers Rescued After Stairs Collapse Into Basement
Oct. 11--FAIRFIELD -- Four workers were injured when two sets of temporary stairs in a home under construction collapsed Friday morning as they carried a cast-iron tub to the third floor.
The tub and two staircases toppled into the basement, with one of the staircases falling onto the men, said Assistant Fire Chief Scott Bisson.
The workers fell between 15 and 20 feet, Bisson said, and suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.
Two of the injured men are employed by Electrical Connections Inc. of Newington and the other two by All American Heating and Air Conditioning of Wolcott, Bisson said.
Both companies are subcontractors on a house under construction on South Gate Lane, a dead-end street in the Southport section of town. The home at 138 South Gate Lane was purchased in May by an Easton-based LLC for $650,000, and the 74-year-old structure was demolished to make way for the new dwelling.
All four workers were extricated shortly after the 9:15 a.m. incident. Two were brought to St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, and two went to Bridgeport Hospital for treatment of injuries.
One man had a broken leg, one had broken ankle and another suffered head pain and complained of a lack of feeling in his arm. One of the workers taken to Bridgeport Hospital was expected to be treated and released, according to John Cappiello, hospital spokesman. The second man there was being evaluated for what he called "non-critical" injuries in the incident.
The two injured workers taken to St. Vincent's Medical Center were treated in the emergency room. A St. Vincent's spokeswoman said Thursday afternoon that one worker would be kept overnight for observation and that the other had been treated and released.
Bisson said firefighters created a rope-and-pulley system to lift the men about 15 feet out of the debris the fell into the basement. A paramedic from AMR and four firefighters were first lowered into the basement to begin treating the injured workers and to remove the wooden stairs that had collapsed on them.
The workers were placed in Stokes baskets and on backboards, with cervical collars to stabilize their injuries, the assistant chief said.
The rescue operation took less than an hour, fire officials said.
Town Building Official Jim Gilleran was on the scene, along with an inspector from Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Gilleran estimated the cast-iron tub weighed between 200 and 300 pounds and questioned why it was being carried up a temporary staircase. "They have a forklift on the job," Gilleran said. "What they could've done is picked it up and taken through a window on the second floor."
He said no one from his department had done an interior inspection on the structure as of Thursday, but added that is not out of the ordinary. Gilleran said interior inspections are done when a house is made water-tight.
Gilleran said the foreman for the job was having a work meeting at the site when he heard the crash and saw a cloud of dust.
He said it will be up to OSHA to determine if fines will be levied against the property owner, who apparently was serving as the general contractor, or any of the subcontractors.
In a statement issued after the incident, Fire Chief Richard Felner said, "The guys did an outstanding job ... They did exactly what they were supposed to do. This could have been much more serious, but I often say training pays off and they proved it today."
After fire crews cleared the scene, Gilleran and OSHA Safety and Occupational Health Specialist Paul Bernor remained on the scene to investigate.
Staff writer Anne M. Amato contributed to this report.
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