I've been watching it on the news today. They have yet to mention which sign company is responsible for it. I'll watch the local news tonight and get bck with any info there is. So far they've said one guy hopped down to grab a tool and it collapsed behind him, that he had to run from the debris. At last report, they had a fifth guy underneath they were delicately trying to get to. It looked like a pile of pixie sticks from the helicopte shots. The rescue is tedious at best. Prayer woudln't hurt at this point.
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This just in...Fowler Sign Company out of Lilburn. Turns out the welding gave. Out of the 4 men buried by the sign, one lived long enough to make it to Fulton county Hospital, Clyde Elrod from Athens...his current status is unkown. He worked for Stephens (sp) Electrical Company.
[ August 01, 2002, 04:18 PM: Message edited by: Linda Silver Eagle ]
SNELLVILLE, Ga. — A 35,000-pound billboard collapsed at a suburban Atlanta shopping center Thursday, killing two construction workers and leaving another trapped beneath an enormous pile of mangled steel.
A fourth worker was trapped briefly but was freed. He was flown to a hospital; his condition was not immediately known.
"We heard this big crash, so we looked over and we saw this huge sign just fall," witness Truly Scott told WAGA-TV. "There was blood everywhere. It was awful to see."
The billboard, roughly 30 by 60 feet, was under construction when it collapsed just before noon at the shopping center. It crashed onto the side of a one-story building below.
Crews used cranes to remove debris and get to the trapped worker. It was unclear whether he was alive.
"They're just worried about how stable that structure is," Snellville police spokesman Tim Colgan said.
The billboard was designed to switch among three advertisements using rotating boards. Structural work on the billboard was complete, and the crew was doing electrical work, Gwinnett County fire Lt. David Dusik said.
Dusik said authorities did not yet know why the structure collapsed.
The billboard crashed onto a building housing an interior design firm. Colgan it did not appear anyone inside the building was hurt.
posted
It's sad to hear things like that. Every time I get in one of those boom lifts or go up high (not buzzed) on a project. I say a little prayer. You just never know when you time is about to come. I remember when I helped ole P-King, 100' that was the highest I had been on a boom lift. I looked down and saw the ground...if I fell, I would hope to die on impact, I wouldn't want to survive a fall from that height. We were at the very end of the project when I started hearing things hitting the ground, everytime I stopped the boom, you couldn't hear anything. I would look over and see pieces of something, from up there couldn't make it out, so we moved around some more, no problem. As we extended out I could hear that noise again, so I looked over real quick and saw pieces of the cable where all the wires were mounted, were breaking off and falling to the ground, I told Pat I think this thing is breaking down, He had once been stuck in a boom himself where the Fire department had to come take him out. He said "take her down slowly were finished anyway." I don't know if we would have been stuck, but the way it was going I think maybe one of the wired would have got caught and shorted out, who knows. All I can say is never take anything for granted, no matter where you are...
-------------------- aka:Cisco the "Traveling Millennium Sign Artist" http://www.franciscovargas.com Fresno, CA 93703 559 252-0935 "to live life, is to love life, a sign of no life, is a sign of no love"...Cisco 12'98 Posts: 3576 | From: Fresno, Ca, the great USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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When I was painting them in fla one crashed it was a poster unit the guy was posting when it fell he was alright somehow,one of my friends was killed when I was there he only fell 12ft catwalk gave way when he was walking on it, fell on his head after 25 years of doing boards,I knew of several other major accidents with billboards they were sure fun to paint everyday but somtimes I am glad the flexes put us out.
-------------------- Scott Moyer Canadensis, Pennsylvania 570-595-0310 Posts: 111 | From: Canadensis PA. USA | Registered: Mar 2000
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Here's the latest on the billboard collapse.
Billboard collapses, killing 3, injuring 1 Another worker rescued from debris, airlifted to hospital
By PHIL GAST and WILLIAM WAN and ERIC STIRGUS Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writers
Three workers were killed and another injured after a large electronic billboard collapsed today in Gwinnett County.
The first two fatalities were confirmed early in the afternoon. At 4:15 p.m., firefighters found the body of the third victim under the wreckage. All three of those killed worked for a Lilburn sign company that was a contractor for Trinity Outdoor LLC, said Snellville police spokesman Tim Colgan.
The incident happened at 11:55 a.m. at a strip center with a Texaco Market at Ga. 124 and Dogwood Road. The billboard is owned by Trinity, which refused to comment on the accident.
At about 1:20 p.m., one of the trapped men, Clyde Elrod, 37, a worker for Stephens Lighting an Electrical Co. of Athens, was pulled from the wreckage and airlifted by helicopter. Onlookers surrounding the scene applauded his rescue and removal. He was reported conscious and in stable condition at North Fulton Regional Hospital, recovering from surgery after his 40-foot drop.
All three bodies have been recovered from the site. Two of the dead men were identified as Josh and Anthony Fowler from Fowler Sign Co. of Lilburn, a subcontractor for Trinity. The third victim has not yet been identified.
It is so sad when accidents happen! The families of these lost are in our prayers. Judy
-------------------- Judy Pate Signs By Judy Albany, Georgia USA 229-435-6824
Live simply...Love generously...Care deeply...Speak kindly...Leave the rest to God. Posts: 2627 | From: Albany,GA,USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Gosh this is sad news. As I was reading this post, the news started telling about it also.
Posts: 3729 | From: Seattle | Registered: Sep 1999
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A wall dog knows tha drill,... As a an apprentice I was often told if ya fall, you are fired before ya hit tha ground. Ya'll folks need ta ask were there any children of those dedicated guys??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
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