Dan.Scanlan@jacksonville.com
Thursday, July 16, 2015
The accident occurred during a fierce thunderstorm that rattled the area and also resulted in two reports of people hit by lightning on Jacksonville’s Westside.
None of the men was injured in the scaffolding accident. One was still wearing his safety harness as he told the Times-Union he didn’t want to comment as a co-worker drove him away.
The workers were part of a weather-stripping project that began in May at the jail. They were working on an outside wall across from the Hart Expressway downtown ramp when the eastern side of the scaffolding dropped just before 2 p.m. As rain pelted the jail, the scaffold was hanging almost vertically next to the workers on their safety lines.
“The motor on the scaffolding failed and it wound up about three floors up,” Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department spokesman Tom Francis said. “The saving grace and the beauty of OSHA is that they had their safety harnesses on. Had that not been the case, the outcome would have been far more cataclysmic.”
The ladder truck from Station 1 only a few blocks away as well as the fire department’s “high-angle” team were on scene quickly and reached the men to attach more safety lines and help them down. They were alerted after a 911 call came in reporting that someone was hanging off the side of the jail, Officer Melissa Bujeda said.
“A lot of wind came through as well as some rain,” the police spokeswoman said. “It [scaffolding] is dangling. The guys were secured by harnesses, which probably saved their lives.”
The men were plucked off the side of the jail by 2:15 p.m., and police and firefighters cleared the scene and the narrow streets next to the jail and Sheriff’s Office soon after.
The thunderstorm that struck downtown was part of a long line of rain and wind that rolled through Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia from Waycross to Daytona Beach, according to National Weather service radar.
Francis said the fire department received a report of someone hit by lightning just after 2 p.m. in the 16000 block of Rebar Road in Baldwin, just east of U.S. 301. The victim was transported to UF Health Jacksonville and was listed in good condition, Francis said.
The second reported incident of someone else being hit by lightning came about the same time, and that person was speaking on a telephone when it happened. But Francis said he did not have an address. No one was apparently injured since the victim was not transported, he said.