
By Blake Haas and Neil Doyle
BLOOMINGTON – Fire crews from Bloomington-Normal rescued two workers after a malfunction with scaffolding outside State Farm.
Both fire departments were called Wednesday around 9:30 a.m. to 1 State Farm Plaza because the workers got stuck approximately 200 feet up on the east side of the main building. Authorities said the workers were securely harnessed, but the scaffolding would not go up or down.
NEW: @NormalFire and @cityblmFD are attempting to rescue two workers stuck 200 feet in the air on a scaffolding at the @StateFarm headquarters in Bloomington. NFD says rescue crews are attempting to take out the windows so that the two men can go inside. More on @WJBC: pic.twitter.com/KCpXgvAH1J
— Blake Haas (@blakehaaswjbc) September 23, 2020
“The cable became fray and it got caught up in the motor,” said Bloomington Fire spokesperson Eric Davison.
Davison said firefighters had to to take out windows from inside the building and the two workers were safely rescued.
No injuries were reported and crews are working to safely lower the scaffolding.
Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected]
UPDATE – 1 State Farm Plz – NFD Technical Rescue Team personnel have successfully rescued the two workers that were trapped on malfunctioning scaffolding. They are safely inside the building at this time. #BloNo pic.twitter.com/KfKJTjLlHu
— Normal Fire Department (@NormalFire) September 23, 2020