Man critical after falling 20 feet from roof

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TONAWANDA, N.Y., SEPT. 9, 2010 - A lift takes two people to the roof of Great Lakes Metal Treating, Inc., the site of a workplace accident Thursday. (100909 ACCIDENT1 - DOUG BENZ/NEWS)

September 9, 2010

By Neale Gulley The Tonawanda News The Tonawanda News Thu Sep 09, 2010, 10:07 PM EDT

— — A 21-year-old employee at a City of Tonawanda business sustained critical injuries Thursday afternoon when he plunged some 20 feet from a rooftop onto a concrete pad below.

The Grand Island man, whose name has not been released, was apparently working on the roof at Great Lakes Metal Treating Inc., at 300 East Niagara St. around 2:30 p.m. when he fell through what appeared to be a ventilation opening or skylight on the roof of the building.

City of Tonawanda Fire Chief Charles Stuart said the man was listed in critical condition at ECMC about an hour later. The news could not obtain an update on his condition later in the evening.

“We had an employee who was doing some work on the roof and apparently fell through a skylight,” Stuart said. “I would say it was a 20 or 25-foot fall.”

City of Tonawanda Police said the accident is under investigation as an industrial accident. Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials were notified of the fall, as is department policy in any such investigation.

“He was carrying some kind of blower-type fan — something large,” Police Lt. Fred Foels said was his preliminary understanding of what happened. “He either tripped or walked on the skylight and crashed through.”

Stuart said responders were dispatched to a call that the man was conscious and breathing, bleeding from the head. Stuart said he was unconscious when crews arrived and the man was rushed to ECMC via Twin City Ambulance.

“It was a trauma call,” he said. “We make sure they have an airway and they’re not bleeding to death and then we get them to the hospital as soon as possible. They reported him as conscious but for all intents and purposes he was unconscious.”

Several employees stood by the scene, just inside a large bay door along the side of the business. Inside medical supplies were visible surrounding the obvious place where the man landed, below a large steel I-beam in turn directly below the opening to the roof. Two men ascended a lift to the top of the building and could be seen surveying the rooftop in the aftermath. A police photographer took pictures. Employees gathered around the scene Thursday afternoon respectfully declined to comment publicly on the incident.

Police say they plan to issue a public statement today.

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