Four workers were temporarily trapped after their elevator got stuck 200 feet underground at a Brooklyn power plant Wednesday morning and had to be lifted out by a pulley system one by one, the FDNY said.
“With the help of all the companies, we set up a rope system that allowed us to send a member down to the elevator and while that was happening, we rigged another system to retrieve and pull the injured patients out. Inside the elevator, we set them up with our harness safety systems and tripled checked everything to make sure all the gear was operable before bringing them up. I’m very happy this all worked out. Everyone’s going home safe and sound and that’s all that matters,” says FDNY Firefighter James Dowdell, Rescue 2, who alongside Firefighters Joseph Gajewski and Anthony Viverito of Squad 1 descended more than 200 feet below ground to rescue 4 workers stuck in an elevator at 1 Hudson Avenue in Brooklyn. FDNY Assistant Chief Wayne Cartwright commends all members involved in today’s intricate confined space rescue “We knew this would be a long and arduous procedure to extricate them safely. Working together with our Collapse Unit and Special Operations Command, we were able to safely remove and turn the patients over to our EMS personnel where they were assessed prior to being transported to the hospital,”
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4 Workers Rescued From Stalled Elevator 200 Feet Under Con Ed Power Plant
By Janon Fisher and Gwynne Hogan |
July 5, 2017 10:21am | Updated July 5, 2017 1:08pm
Firefighters had to use a harness to rescue four workers trapped 220 feet underground in a Con Ed power plant on July 5, 2017. DNAinfo/Gwynne Hogan
VINEGAR HILL — Four workers were temporarily trapped after their elevator got stuck 200 feet underground at a Brooklyn power plant Wednesday morning and had to be lifted out by a pulley system one by one, the FDNY said.
A Con Edison worker and three contractors became stuck when the elevator malfunctioned at 7:40 a.m. at the Con Edison's power plant located at 1 Hudson Ave on the Brooklyn waterfront, authorities said.
The men were headed down to an underground utility tunnel that runs under the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan, Con Edison officials said.
The men suffered minor injuries during the incident, FDNY spokesman Jim Long said. He said it was unclear how they were hurt, but FDNY Chief Medical Director Dr. Glenn Asaeda, who assisted the men at the scene, said they told him the lift had dropped "a little."
FDNY Special Operations Lt. Sean Parker, who led the rescue, said, "They were great, honestly were all very calm. They were hurt a little bit but nobody was really in a lot of pain so we didn’t have to think about getting any medical help down into the elevator."
Firefighters used a pulley system, with each man fastened to a harness one by one and lifted up to the ground level.
“It’s a very intricate operation," Long said. Each person took about 20 minutes to lift above ground. “It’s just a real tedious operation."
As the workers resurfaced from below ground they were rushed on stretchers to Brooklyn Hospital.
Two of the men were conscious and alert as emergency workers lifted them into ambulances on stretchers outside the Con Edison plant, one with a smear of blood on his cheek from a small cut near his left eye.
The stalled elevator had been inspected by the Department of Buildings in June, according to Mike Clendenin, a spokesman for Con Edison, though the DOB didn't return a request for comment immediately.