Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 24

Illinois Firefighters Rescue Worker After 6 Hours Trapped in 130-Foot Gas Station Sign

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 24

Illinois Firefighters Rescue Worker After 6 Hours Trapped in 130-Foot Gas Station Sign

Q: What terrifying mechanical failure left a worker trapped 130 feet in the air inside a swaying, claustrophobic gas station sign?

A malfunction of the telescopic boom lift he was using to access the sign left AJ Gow trapped about 130 feet in the air. According to fire officials and multiple local reports, Gow was inside an enclosed section of the gas station sign performing maintenance when the boom lift suffered a mechanical failure and could no longer safely move him back down. The reports do not specify the exact component that failed, but the lift’s breakdown stranded him in a cramped, roughly 16-inch-wide space with no internal ladder or stairs in the sign structure. That mechanical problem turned into a prolonged high-angle rescue because standard ladder trucks could reach only about 100 feet, leaving him around 30 feet beyond their range. Rescuers ultimately had to bring in a specialized replacement boom lift from Joliet under Illinois State Police escort to reach him. Gow later said the ordeal was made worse by heat, thirst, dizziness, nausea and the sign swaying in the wind while he waited for hours to be rescued.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 24

AJ Gow was brought down safely Tuesday after spending more than six hours trapped inside a 130-foot gas station sign along Interstate 55 in Wilmington.
A telescopic boom lift malfunctioned during repair work, and rescuers could not climb the pole because it had no stairs or ladders.
Wilmington Fire District ladders reached only 100 feet, leaving Gow about 30 feet too high for local trucks to access.
A replacement boom lift was hauled from the Joliet area about 20 miles away under Illinois State Police escort, allowing firefighters to reach him.
Gow later said the 16-inch-wide space was hot, swaying in the wind and left him dizzy and dehydrated; he was treated at a hospital.