At 2:48 p.m. Thursday afternoon, the Milwaukee Fire Department received a call about a scaffolding failure on the Milwaukee County Courthouse. One scaffolding basket fell several feet and was stuck at a 45-degree angle with two men trapped inside.
Milwaukee Fire and Police said they were on scene less than a minute later and used the announcement system on their trucks to tell the men that they were on their way up.
Berglund, the scaffolding company with an office in West Milwaukee, had other employees on scene who, after talking with Milwaukee Fire, went up in a second unit to rescue the two men. Milwaukee Fire’s Heavy Urban Rescue Division was on the roof of the Courthouse prepared to go over the edge in the event of any complications, and they provided rescue harnesses for the men. Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said it was best for the scaffolding company to arrange the rescue since they are more experienced.
“I want to be 1,000% transparent, we were ready to go over the edge and go down and conduct the rescue on these individuals,” Lipski said, “But the folks that are working on this site are highly skilled, this is their work environment.”
After 30 minutes in the basket, each man was secured in a harness, shuffled along the ledge by their Berglund coworkers, stepped into the second basket and were then raised up to the roof level so they could climb over to safety. Both men were assessed by paramedics who concluded that they sustained no injuries.
“While it is visually spectacular, it has been brought to a safe conclusion,” Lipski said. “This is the best ending for this story.”
The cause of the scaffolding fall is still under investigation.
The scaffolding was up on the courthouse as part of facade restoration project. The project has been put on hold for the ongoing investigation. All three scaffolding baskets have been secured to the building and the ground area under them has been cordoned off by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office. The scaffolding company is also sending over crews to check the equipment.
We reached out to Berglund for comment but as it was after business hours, they did not answer the phone. We have sent an email to them and will update this article once we have received their statement.
This story was written by Izzy Fonfara Drewel. She can be reached at [email protected].
