‘Just another day’: Stranded window washer recounts dangling from RSA Tower
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with viewer-submitted photos and new information as we receive it about this incident.
UPDATE (10:13 p.m.): What was a normal Monday afternoon at work for Jared Cooper quickly changed after he was left dangling hundreds of feet in the air while cleaning the windows of the RSA Tower.
“It’s a 50-50 shot,” Cooper said. “So, it was going to lock or not, and when it locked, I was okay, well, here we go. So just another day. Should have seen it coming.”
Cooper works for Squeegee Squad, a window cleaning company based in Mobile. This week was his first time cleaning the RSA tower.
He said he had an odd feeling the night before when tasked to clean the RSA Tower’s windows.
“I had a feeling something was going to happen last night, so I wasn’t too sure,” he said.
While stuck more than 450 feet in the air, he called his mom to let her know.
“He calls me a lot from work, and he said, ‘Hey, mom, I’m stuck here on the ledge, and I’m just hanging out here, you know, waiting until to see if will be able to get me down,’” Cooper’s mom, Charlotte Hopkins, said.
While dangling hundreds of feet in the air, Cooper said all he could do was wait for help to arrive, and that help was from the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department.
Captain Robert Brown went up the tower and lowered himself to get Cooper.
After successfully getting his attachment on Cooper, and they both crawled back in through an open window.
He said being so high in the air didn’t cross his mind—he just knew Cooper needed help.
“I was pretty high up, you know?” Captain Brown said. “But during the moment, I really wasn’t thinking about the height or whatever. I was just, job needed to be done. You know, we have the skill set and the equipment to do it, so we want to get it done.”
After a hectic day for Cooper and a heroic rescue, he’s just hoping for better equipment in the future.
“We haven’t had many problems with our equipment,” Cooper said. “We’ve noticed a couple of things that we were trying to get replaced and haven’t had the chance to.”
“Jared has always been kind of a daredevil, and he always is,” Hopkins said. “It’s a high-risk job. He’s like, sign me up. I’m very thankful for the fire department today, though. They were the rescuers. And I’m really proud of how quickly they reacted and how they took care of him.”
“I wasn’t expecting that fast response to it, but they were there within 5 minutes,” Cooper said.
Cooper plans to go back to work Tuesday.
UPDATE (5:30 p.m.): The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department has shared its official account of what happened Monday afternoon when teams rescued a window washer stranded on the side of the RSA Battle House Tower.
“The man was washing windows when he said his descender got stuck,” an MFRD news release said, referring to a piece of the worker’s equipment that malfunctioned, preventing him from going up or down.
Upon realizing this, he and a co-worker called 911.
The man was more than 450 feet above downtown Mobile, according to the release.
“Mobile Fire-Rescue Department dispatched several units to the call, including District 1 Chief, Engine 3, Truck 4 and Rescue 3, from Central Station, Engine 8 and Technical Rescue 8 from Melton Station, and Truck 17, Heavy Rescue 25 and Engine 12 from Crichton Station, to include rescue technicians trained in high-angle rescues,” the release said.
MFRD “set up a rope system on a small roof on the 35th floor,” the release said. “A rescuer was lowered down to a small roof below on the 33rd floor, and then down further to the worker more than one story below that. Once he reached the victim, the man’s harness was attached to the MFRD rope system.”
Rescuers stationed on the 35th floor used a pulley system to lift the window washer, News 5 has learned.
“This allowed a haul team of several people to bring the man up and over the edge onto the 33rd floor roof,” MFRD said in a statement. “Once he was on that roof, he was able to walk into the building through an open window.”
Paramedics tended to the man and determined he was uninjured, according to the MFRD. No rescue team members were injured, either.
“It worked like clockwork; it was beautiful,” District 1 Chief Brandon Jackson said of the rescue. “Everybody walked away and went home safely.”
UPDATE (4:03 p.m.) The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department saved a dangling window washer during the lunch hour for many people who work downtown.
Several people stepped out on Dauphin Street and looked up in shock and awe as the man actually dangled from the RSA Tower.
A piece of the window washer’s equipment called a descender malfunctioned, preventing him from going up or down.
Witnesses told News 5 they first felt a sense of worry — which, fortunately, turned to relief after MFRD and rescue teams safely helped the man.
Louise Jeanminette, who works in the RSA building, saw the incident happen.
Jeanminette said, “It was scary. Just to see someone hanging from that building.”
Aimee Risser, a witness from inside the building, works for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of South Alabama. She was attending a Mobile County Public School System event when everyone rushed outside.
“It was just honestly amazing. It’s amazing how brave the window washer is to go to work every day and our firemen to climb out of a window to rescue them,” she said.
“I cannot even imagine, I mean, because I’m terrified of heights, you know? So, I cannot imagine, you know, what would have gone wrong up there,” Jill Hinkle, another bystander, said.
“You know, well, he just was not able to get down, and he needed to be rescued.”
UPDATE (2:19 p.m.): News 5 has learned more about the live-saving mission to rescue a dangling window washer from a downtown Mobile high-rise building.
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The window washer was saved “when he was raised by (Mobile Fire-Rescue Department) rescue technicians to a roof above on level 33,” an MFRD spokesperson said. “He then walked into the building through a window.”
Paramedics tended to the man and determined he was uninjured, News 5 has learned.
The man was part of a two-person crew washing windows in the building when his descender, a crucial piece of equipment for people working on tall buildings, became stuck. News 5 has learned.
UPDATE (1:45 p.m.): Mobile Fire-Rescue Department units, along with technical rescue units, worked to successfully rescue a window washer from the RSA Tower.
“The call originated with the worker, who advised his descender was stuck,” an MFRD spokesperson said.
“Units arrived on scene to find the worker suspended on a rope, near the 35th floor on the west side of the building.”
Crews from MFRD safely extricated the worker from the building.
UPDATE (1:15 p.m.): The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department is leading the rescue mission for a person seen dangling from a downtown high-rise building.
News 5 is hearing that a person, believed to be a window washer, accidentally ended up dangling from the RSA Tower.
We’re hearing that the situation is under control.
Mobile police are closing off nearby roads, blocking traffic at North Royal Street and St. Francis Street, to aid the effort.
Previous Reporting:
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — A rescue operation is underway as a person is seen hanging off a high-rise building in Mobile, according to authorities.
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The person was seen dangling from the RSA tower, a Mobile Fire-Rescue Department spokesperson told News 5.
LOCATION:
This is a developing story. News 5 will update this story as more information becomes available.
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