An equipment operator escaped a potentially catastrophic accident when his telehandler tipped over the side of a parking garage in Madison, Wisconsin.
The operator was dumping snow off the top of the seven-story parking garage when the JCB 525-60 telehandler he was operating tipped forward over the side of the building's ramp. As it hung by just the front wheel of the undercarriage with the boom dangling off the side, the operator was able to escape from the rear window, according to the Madison Fire Department.
The department’s Heavy Urban Rescue Team responded to the accident at about 9:30 a.m. February 15 and found that the operator was shaken up but not hurt. He did not need medical attention.
The urban rescue team secured the telehandler with heavy-duty straps to hold it in place until it could be removed, the team reports.
Schmidt’s Auto towing company later arrived to haul the telehandler back in. To recover the telehandler, the snow-removal contractor built up a pile of snow underneath the machine to use as leverage. That enabled the towing company to pull the telehandler off the parking garage ledge and back onto the parking lot.
Check out the video below released by the Madison Fire Department:
The garage is located at the 4800 block of Madison Yards Way. The situation was under control by about noon, the fire department reports.
The Heavy Urban Rescue Team specializes in high- and low-angle rescue, confined space rescue, trench collapse, building collapse and other emergencies that require technical assistance.