A very tragic tower accident occurred in NC yesterday. Details
attached:
WOODLEAF -- A woman watched from the ground as her husband, son
and a family friend plummeted 1,000 feet to their
deaths from a radio
transmission tower in western Rowan County Friday.
The three were painters ascending the 1,500-foot tower
owned by WFMX
(FM 105.7) of Statesville about 11:45a.m., when
something went wrong
with their safety cable, Sheriff George Wilhelm said.
"All three were apparently attached to the same cable,
and a fourth person
was on the ground operating a (motorized) winch to
hoist them up,'' he
said. "We're not exactly sure what happened, but it
looks like the cable
came off the winch at the bottom.''
Authorities identified the men as Daniel Foster
Zortman, 40, of Corapeake
in Gates County, and his stepson, Ronald Dean Brooks,
16. Zortman
owned Quality Power Painting of Red Oak, Va. The third
victim, Charles
Shively, 19, was a friend who worked occasionally with
the other two.
The three apparently were wearing safety harnesses and
were attached to
the cable by clip-on devices, Wilhelm said. The site
is off Woodleaf Road
near the Rowan-Iredell line.
Wanda Zortman, Daniel Zortman's wife, called 911 from
a telephone at the
tower base.
She was taken to Rowan Regional Medical Center in
Salisbury, where she
was treated for shock and burns to her hands when she
apparently touched
the moving cable. Investigators had not been able to
talk with her because
of her condition.
"She was hysterical,'' Wilhelm said.
Let's all triple check our safety equipment so it won't happen....
RJ -- W4QA
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