Crane falls down, killing worker
Suffolk University roof was being inspected
One worker was killed and another seriously injured after a crane used to inspect the roof of a seven-story Suffolk University dormitory fell over yesterday morning, its 110-foot metal arm plummeting through the air before slamming into a building in the heart of busy Downtown Crossing.
District Fire Chief Ron Harrington said both workers who were in the basket as it plunged into a paved lot were severely injured, and one was found at the scene without a pulse.
The workers were identified as James Williamson and Greg Johnson by Valerie Wencis, a spokeswoman for Massachusetts General Hospital.
Williamson died at 8:15 p.m. from injuries sustained in the accident, and Johnson was listed in serious condition last night, Wencis said.
The crane fell shortly before 10:30, shaving the Brattle Book Shop's outdoor book display and hitting the back of a building on Temple Place.
"He was lucky enough to be thrown," Harrington said of the first worker.
"Imagine heading toward that building and thinking, 'We're going down?' Scary stuff."
Firefighters, police, and officials from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration stayed at the scene throughout the day, inspecting the large lift base, which sat sideways on two wheels, and trying to piece together events. As the fallen arm of the crane skimmed the side of the Brattle Book Shop, it sent hundreds of paperbacks displayed on shelves outdoors fluttering and sent people running.
Steve MacDonald, Boston Fire Department spokesman, said the impact bent the crane. Officials planned to cut it and remove it in pieces last night, he said.
Greg Gatlin, a spokesman for Suffolk University, said the school had contracted with Tremco Inc. of Lakeville to inspect a number of its buildings' rooftops, including the dormitory at 10 West St. Tremco then subcontracted the job to Reliable Roofing and Sheet Metal of Framingham, which performed the work.
Reliable Roofing leased the crane equipment from a company called Height 4 Hire.
OSHA fined Reliable Roofing $4,500 in March for failing to provide "guardrail systems, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems" for employees working at a job site in Newburyport, according to the administration's website. The company paid $1,800 to settle the fine in April.
The top of the crane hit the back of the building where Mark Raab, 30, sat in his apartment watching a James Bond movie.
"I felt the building shake," he said. "My bedroom is in the corner where the crane hit my building. I thought it was an explosion or something."
Steve Hubner, who lives in the apartment building nicked by the falling crane, said the sound of the crash woke him up. When he looked out his window, he saw one of the workers lying on a second-floor rooftop. The other worker had been hurled into the building, and emergency workers were trying to revive him. He said he didn't know what happened to either man.
"It was bad," Hubner said. "We could tell that people were really badly hurt."
David J. Sargent, Suffolk University's president, issued a statement yesterday evening saying that no students who live in the dormitory at 10 West St. were injured.
"Tonight our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim killed in the mobile lift accident on West Street, and we extend our deepest sympathies." Yesterday's crash recalled a scaffolding collapse at an Emerson College construction site that killed three people in 2006. In that instance, scaffolding weighing 3 tons plunged nearly 14 stories onto Boylston Street, killing two construction workers and a doctor who was driving by.
For much of yesterday, people walking along Washington Street stopped to look at the toppled crane or snap photos with cellphones from behind police lines. Many marveled that more people weren't hurt.
Ken Gloss, the owner of Brattle Book Shop, said six or seven people were browsing for books in his outdoor book fair at the time of the crash.
"They're all fine," he said. "The thing is, with seven people looking at books in that lot, what are the odds that nobody got hurt?"
