This is why I prefer to stay on the ground. This morning, the Long Beach Fire Department rescued two window washers who were stuck high atop the Arco Towers in downtown Long Beach when the scaffolding they were standing on snapped and dangled from the top of the building. Both men were rescued and are safe. According to the Fire Department blog:

One of the menwas actually hanging only by his safety harness with the scaffolding dangling below him. Once additional safety lines were in place, the LBFD pulled the victim up to the roof, while they figured out the best way to reach the second man. The second man was also wearing his safety harness and was still inside the scaffolding and hanging on. He appeared to be alert and for the most part calm, considering the situation.

The second man was rescued after one of the firefighters went over the top of the building and rappelled down the 20 feet to the victim. The firefighter then tied off some rescue rope to the man and the crew up top began to pull the man up. Once they got him to the ledge, they were able to grab onto him and pull him over onto the roof. Both of the victims had no injuries and did not require and medical treatment.

The blog also describes the intense physical training that firefighters must go through in order to train for rare circumstances like these. Great job by Long Beach’s finest to help these men! Photos below provided by the Fire Department.