Thursday, June 11, 2015

MAN WAS RESCUED AFTER HIS CONSTRUCTION BUCKET CAUGHT FIRE BY HIS TORCH WHILE WORKING ON A DOMINO'S PIZZA SIGN. THE MAN CLIMBED TO THE TOP OF THE SIGN TO ESCAPE








JUNE 11, 2015

ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C.

Upstate fire officials rescued a man whose construction bucket caught fire while working on a Domino's Pizza sign Wednesday. 

Vandiver told WYFF News4 he was passing the Domino's Pizza on Highway 24 just after 6 p.m. when he spotted a man clinging to the top of the pole and the Domino's Pizza sign engulfed in flames.

That man talked to WYFF News 4 and said it was his construction bucket that was in flames.

Kevin Putman, 44, of Taylors, said he is happy to be alive after clinging for his life 50 feet in the air on Highway 24.  

Putman said he had been working on removing the Domino's Pizza sign for most of the day using cutting torches in his construction bucket.

"I felt heat to my back, I turned around and my controls were on fire," Putman said.

Putman said that's when he went into panic mode.

"My wheels started turning. I threw my torches out of the bucket, I went to use my controls and they were bubbling," Putman said.

The hydraulic hoses had already busted and fuel was going everywhere, creating an extremely flammable environment. Putman said that's when he had to make a decision.

"Only place I had to go was jump or climb, so I climbed." Putman said.

The Anderson County Fire Department was able to bring Putman to the ground about 45 minutes later.

Putman said the fire burned the bottom of his shoes and the hair on his legs, but, after 25 years in the business, he is thankful for the firefighters who rescued him and to be alive.

The man climbed to the top of the sign to escape