A Tiffin man working on the expansion of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library's Main Library was killed yesterday when a crane tipped and he was crushed beneath the bucket of concrete it was lifting.
Colleagues shouted to 50-year-old Dennis Fetzer when they saw the 5,000-pound bucket go astray about 10 a.m., but he could not get out of the way, said Chuck Moyer, a vice president for Fremont-based Mosser Construction, Mr. Fetzer's employer. Mr. Fetzer, a carpenter, was on the library wing's roof assembling a wooden form for concrete as other workers poured a concrete curb wall nearby, Mr. Moyer said.
The wind is considered the 'main suspect' in the toppling of the crane, according to a police report.
(Toledo Blade photo by Don Simmons)
When the crane tipped, the bucket lowered and struck Mr. Fetzer in the head and landed on top of him.
Mr. Fetzer, a journeyman from Carpenters' Union Local 2239 in Fremont, had worked for Mosser since 1983. His death is only the second employee fatality in Mosser's 51-year history, Mr. Moyer said. The Lucas County coroner has ordered an autopsy.
Arnis Andersons, area director for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said an investigation of the accident will likely take at least a month to complete. Investigators arrived quickly since the scene at 325 North Michigan St. is only three blocks from the administration's Toledo office, he said.
Mr. Andersons declined to comment on possible causes for the accident, but a police report noted that the wind had picked up in downtown Toledo shortly beforehand. The police report called the wind a "main suspect'' and noted that the crane had delivered several previous loads to the roof before the accident.
Rick Olsen, a truck driver from Brookfield, Ill., who was delivering a load of plate glass to the library project, said he was talking with another man when they looked over and saw that one of the 185-foot-high crane's treads was several feet in the air.
"It was rising real slow,'' Mr. Olsen said. "It was so surreal. The man in the cab had the biggest look on his face.''
The crane's boom came to rest against a top edge of the new library wing. Except for a crushed safety railing on the roof, there was no visible damage to the building. Crane operator James Jacobs of Oregon was not hurt.
Madison Avenue remained closed between Michigan and 11th streets the rest of the day. Shortly after 5, workers used two other cranes taken to the scene to right the toppled crane. Construction workers were sent home after the accident. Information about its impact on the library project's construction schedule was not immediately available.
The $35 million library project's 85,000 square feet will expand library space by about 50 per cent. The work began last year and is scheduled to be finished by year's end.
Mary Kay Sanford, a library spokeswoman, said between 50 and 100 workers have been at the site each workday since construction started. No serious injuries had occurred until yesterday's accident.
"What a sad thing to happen for such a positive project,'' said Kathie King, a 10th Street resident who happened by the scene while going home for lunch. The library construction site, she remarked, has been "street entertainment'' for many who live in her edge-of-downtown neighborhood.
Mr. Andersons said though Mosser and Jeffers have received OSHA citations previously, neither has had any noteworthy safety problems. As long as no violations are uncovered during the current investigation, he said, construction will be allowed to proceed. A review of OSHA computer records showed no enforcement actions against Jeffers and only one against Mosser, which involved dangerously exposed gears in a Mosser crane.
Butch Bucher, an on-scene manager for Jeffers Crane Service of Oregon, declined to comment.
"We are in the midst of an investigation,'' he said.
Along with closing the Main Library yesterday at 3 p.m., officials postponed a fund-raising event scheduled for Saturday. Library Director Clyde Scoles said the postponement of the "Hard Hats & Heels 2'' benefit auction is an expression of respect for Mr. Fetzer.
Ms. Sanford said the event was to have had a construction theme, which she said would be inappropriate so soon after the accident.
Rick Swint
Crane at library tips, kills worker
BLADE STAFF WRITER
A Tiffin man working on the expansion of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library's Main Library was killed yesterday when a crane tipped and he was crushed beneath the bucket of concrete it was lifting.
Colleagues shouted to 50-year-old Dennis Fetzer when they saw the 5,000-pound bucket go astray about 10 a.m., but he could not get out of the way, said Chuck Moyer, a vice president for Fremont-based Mosser Construction, Mr. Fetzer's employer. Mr. Fetzer, a carpenter, was on the library wing's roof assembling a wooden form for concrete as other workers poured a concrete curb wall nearby, Mr. Moyer said.
The wind is considered the 'main suspect' in the toppling of the crane, according to a police report.
(Toledo Blade photo by Don Simmons)
Mr. Fetzer, a journeyman from Carpenters' Union Local 2239 in Fremont, had worked for Mosser since 1983. His death is only the second employee fatality in Mosser's 51-year history, Mr. Moyer said. The Lucas County coroner has ordered an autopsy.
Arnis Andersons, area director for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said an investigation of the accident will likely take at least a month to complete. Investigators arrived quickly since the scene at 325 North Michigan St. is only three blocks from the administration's Toledo office, he said.
Mr. Andersons declined to comment on possible causes for the accident, but a police report noted that the wind had picked up in downtown Toledo shortly beforehand. The police report called the wind a "main suspect'' and noted that the crane had delivered several previous loads to the roof before the accident.
Rick Olsen, a truck driver from Brookfield, Ill., who was delivering a load of plate glass to the library project, said he was talking with another man when they looked over and saw that one of the 185-foot-high crane's treads was several feet in the air.
"It was rising real slow,'' Mr. Olsen said. "It was so surreal. The man in the cab had the biggest look on his face.''
The crane's boom came to rest against a top edge of the new library wing. Except for a crushed safety railing on the roof, there was no visible damage to the building. Crane operator James Jacobs of Oregon was not hurt.
Madison Avenue remained closed between Michigan and 11th streets the rest of the day. Shortly after 5, workers used two other cranes taken to the scene to right the toppled crane. Construction workers were sent home after the accident. Information about its impact on the library project's construction schedule was not immediately available.
The $35 million library project's 85,000 square feet will expand library space by about 50 per cent. The work began last year and is scheduled to be finished by year's end.
Mary Kay Sanford, a library spokeswoman, said between 50 and 100 workers have been at the site each workday since construction started. No serious injuries had occurred until yesterday's accident.
"What a sad thing to happen for such a positive project,'' said Kathie King, a 10th Street resident who happened by the scene while going home for lunch. The library construction site, she remarked, has been "street entertainment'' for many who live in her edge-of-downtown neighborhood.
Mr. Andersons said though Mosser and Jeffers have received OSHA citations previously, neither has had any noteworthy safety problems. As long as no violations are uncovered during the current investigation, he said, construction will be allowed to proceed. A review of OSHA computer records showed no enforcement actions against Jeffers and only one against Mosser, which involved dangerously exposed gears in a Mosser crane.
Butch Bucher, an on-scene manager for Jeffers Crane Service of Oregon, declined to comment.
"We are in the midst of an investigation,'' he said.
Along with closing the Main Library yesterday at 3 p.m., officials postponed a fund-raising event scheduled for Saturday. Library Director Clyde Scoles said the postponement of the "Hard Hats & Heels 2'' benefit auction is an expression of respect for Mr. Fetzer.
Ms. Sanford said the event was to have had a construction theme, which she said would be inappropriate so soon after the accident.
Richard Gardner