February 1, 2014
3 killed in Clarksburg when 2 communications towers collapse
By Travis Crum
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. -- Three men died, including a firefighter, and
another two were injured when two communications towers collapsed
Saturday in Clarksburg, emergency officials said.
Four contractors were working on a "multi-purpose communications tower"
when it collapsed Saturday morning, said Lawrence Messina, spokesman for
the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.
Two men were pronounced dead at the scene. The other two were being
treated when a second tower collapsed, Messina said. A local firefighter
was treating one of the injured men and was killed when the second tower
fell.
State Police Cpl. Mark Waggamon said the contractors were tethered to
the larger tower when it collapsed. A Nutter Fort firefighter was killed
while walking from his car to the scene.
Waggamon said the contractors who were taken to the hospital had serious
but non-life threatening injuries. He added the weight of the collapsed
tower put stress on guide wires to the smaller tower.
The incident happened at about 11:40 a.m. along Murphy's Run Road, in
the Summit Park neighborhood of Clarksburg, a Harrison County 911
dispatcher said.
The two injured men were taken to West Virginia University's Ruby
Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. Their condition was not known Saturday
evening.
Messina said the towers are owned by SBA Communications Corp., a company
based in Boca Raton, Fla.
SBA Communication independently operates and maintains wireless
communications infrastructures across North, Central and South America,
according to its website. The company leases antenna space on its towers
to wireless-service providers under long-term contracts.
The company has dozens of towers across West Virginia, according to its
website.
SBA did not return phone messages Saturday.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman
said the agency is responding to the incident.
Waggamon said the crew was performing maintenance to strengthen the
tower's support when the accident occurred. The federal Occupational
Safety and Health Administration will investigate.
A 2012 investigation by ProPublica and PBS's "Frontline" found that
tower climbing has a death rate roughly 10 times higher than
construction work. The investigation found 93 deaths of tower climbers
between 2003 and 2011.
Staff writer David Gutman contributed to this report.
Reach Travis Crum at [email protected] or 304-348-5163.
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