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Investigators release name of worker killed in tower collapse in Fordland, Mo.
By Emily Wood
April 19, 2018
FORDLAND, Mo. --
A nearly 2,000-foot tall TV tower crashed to the ground in Fordland, Missouri.
Investigators say Seacomm Erectors employee Steve J Lemay, 56, of Washington state, died in the collapse, and several others were injured. The tower belonged to Ozarks Public Television and Missouri State University.
Seacomm Erectors, is a tower steel erector specializing in the installation, maintenance and repair of telecommunication towers. They are located at 32527 SR 2, Sultan WA.
"Just a lot of crumpling metal, more like a car crash magnified by a hundred," said Lee Brown, a neighbor who heard the collapse from a mile away.
It was a sudden collapse as the 1,980-foot-tall tower fell to the ground. Six workers were more than 100-feet high at the time according to authorities. One was killed. Others were injured but expected to be okay.
"It's really scary. I used to climb these towers, and it takes a lot of courage, and it's real dangerous work," Brown said.
"It's very lucky that we didn't have more fatalities out here," said Assistant Chief Rob Talburt of the Logan-Rogersville Fire Department.
"When you go through something catastrophic, call it like it is, people are going to be very shook up, and when you are working that high in the air and something goes wrong, you're going to have a lot of emotions," Talburt said.
Investigators said they will conduct interviews with the workers to find out more. They had not determined a cause for the collapse as of Thursday evening.
"Our prayers go out to their family," Brown said.
Authorities said the company working on the tower at the time of the collapse was contracted from Washington state.
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TV tower collapse in Missouri leaves 1 worker dead, several injured, officials say
1,980-foot TV tower collapses, killing worker
Author: Harrison Keegan and Giacomo Bologna, News-Leader
Published: 7:50 PM EDT April 19, 2018
Updated: 8:17 PM EDT April 19, 2018
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A TV tower in Missouri collapsed Thursday, killing one person and injuring several others, authorities say.
The tower near Fordland in Webster County was used to broadcast KOZK Ozarks Public Television, according to a spokeswoman for Missouri State University, which owns the tower.
Rob Talburt, assistant chief for the Logan-Rogersville Fire Protection District, said 50 to 60 emergency workers from multiple agencies responded to the tower collapse.
Talburt said that just before 10 a.m., six workers were performing routine maintenance on the 1,980-foot-tall tower when it went down.
The workers were about 105 feet high at the time of the collapse, Talburt said.
One worker was trapped and killed, Talburt said, and the five other workers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
"It's very lucky that we didn't have more fatalities out here," Talburt said.
Andrea Mostyn, spokeswoman for Missouri State University, said the university contracted with a company to perform work on the tower. She said she was not sure how long the crew had been working on the tower.
MSU spokeswoman Suzanne Shaw said the workers were installing structural support to accommodate new equipment associated with a channel change.
MSU issued a statement, calling the tower's collapse and the ensuing death a "tragedy."
“We are shocked and saddened by the news,” Shaw said in the statement. “Our condolences go out to the victims and their families. We are also providing support and resources to the other team members affected.”
Webster County Sheriff Roye Cole said the workers were replacing crossbeams on the tower.
John Myers, a structural engineering professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology, said it's extremely rare for any type of structure like a TV tower to collapse without some type of major event, like a hurricane or tornado.