Firefighters have “safely” brought down a crane operator at a construction site west of downtown Ottawa, after the crane reportedly dropped a load on Monday afternoon.
“Ottawa Fire Services was notified that a crane operator suffered a medical emergency while in the operator’s box, rendering him unable to operate the crane,” said an update from the fire department on Monday evening.
A rope rescue crew went up with paramedics to assess the operator and “make sure that he was medically stable enough to be brought down,” said Jen McNeely, public information officer for Ottawa’s fire department.
The operator was then placed in a Stokes basket and then lowered to the ground by rope, according to the fire department.
A spokesperson for the Ottawa Paramedic Service couldn’t be immediately reached for an update on the operator’s condition.
The rope rescue operation took about an hour and 20 minutes to complete, according to Ottawa Fire Services.
“Rope rescue is very technical in nature and firefighters conducting this operation are highly specialized. Set up is complex and adapted to the condition of the person being rescued,” the update said.
Ottawa police were first called to the scene around 2:30 p.m. “for a possible industrial accident where a crane lost its load on the road,” a spokesperson said.
Const. Amy Gagnon said no injuries have been reported as a result of the fallen load but couldn’t confirm whether any other type of damage had occurred.
Police have closed Wellington Street to traffic from Parkdale to Rosemount avenues.
The northbound lanes on Parkdale Avenue are also closed from Gladstone Avenue to Grant Street, Gagnon said.