Worker rescued from top of old grain tower in southwest Chicago suburbs

FRANKFORT, Ill. (CBS) -- A contractor was rescued from the top of a grainery tower in southwest suburban Frankfort late Thursday afternoon.

Frankfort police and fire crews called at 2:30 p.m. to the top of the 132-foot tower near Carpenter and Elwood streets.

Frankfort Fire District Deputy Chief Paul Kinsella said a 28-year-old man was working as a contractor on the top of the tower when he fell from a height down onto the roof below. He suffered a broken arm and some other injuries from the fall – and could not get back down to the ground independently.

The roof was icy, and has no protection or handrails on the side. 

The contractor was able to call 911 on his cellphone.

"We got the call originally for a broken arm, and quickly realized that he was still on top of the tower," Kinsella said.

Fire crews were sent to the top of the tower, and also sent out a drone to get a visual on the man, Kinsella said.

A technical rescue team secured the contractor into a stokes basket – and a haul system with ropes was set up to get him down. The technical rescue team is composed of medics who specialize in high-angle rescues.

Fire crews were set to bring an aerial tower to get the man down – but there was a complicating factor in that such towers can only go up 10 stories, while the tower is 13 stories high. Thus, crews lowered the man into the structure through a scuttle hatch in the roof, and then maneuvered him out a side window to the aerial tower.

Kinsella said it was a "torturous path" getting the man back to the ground.

The Frankfort Grainery tower was built in 1940, and has not actually been used for grain products since 1973. It is on the site of the original grain tower in Frankfort – which dates back to the 19th century, and was made of wood and kept catching fire. The current structure is concrete.

Late Thursday, the contractor was in fair and stable condition, Kinsella said. He was taken to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.