Police: Man injured in fall from water tower

UPDATED 2:45

A 38-year-old Pennsylvania man was injured this morning after falling about 80 feet while painting a water tower in Culpeper.

Police, fire and rescue workers were called to the scene on Standpipe Road, just off Orange Road, around 9:45 a.m. for a report of one man having fallen from scaffolding and another man dangling from a safety harness.

The man who fell was airlifted to the U.Va. Medical Center. The second person, a 48-year-old Meadville, Pa. man, was rescued and not injured, town spokesman Wally Bunker said.

Bunker said the men involved in the incident were employees of Washington, Pa.-based D&M Painting Co. The firm was contracted by the town to paint the interior and exterior of the town’s three water tanks. Suspended by cables, the scaffold was at the top of the tank at the time of the accident, about 80 feet above ground.

Authorities said Wednesday afternoon that the cable supporting the scaffolding was connected to the top of the water tank with a loop in the cable secured with a crimp connection; the crimp connection was apparently not tight enough and the cable pulled out. One worker said the containment tarp probably helped break the injured man’s fall.

The Standpipe tank is the first one to be painted and work began on the project last week. Bunker said police were waiting for representatives of the federal Occupational, Safety and Health Administration to get on scene to investigate.

The extent of the injuries and condition of the injured man werenot immediately available this afternoon and authorities did not release his name.

This is an update. The earlier story is below.

***

An unidentified man was airlifted to the hospital after he apparently fell from a Culpeper water tower this morning while performing maintenance.

Town spokesman Wally Bunker confirmed this afternoon that authorities are investigating the incident. Bunker said more information should be released later today.

The structure is located on Standpipe Road, just off Orange Road (U.S. 15) just south of the state probation and parole office.

Culpeper Police Department Sgt. Ashley Banks confirmed at the scene that one man was injured when he fell from the tower, but he declined to give further information, citing the ongoing investigation.

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident. Star-Exponent correspondent Greg VanNostrand reports that the victim fell from the top area of the tower to the ground, landing between the tower and a canvas cover that was placed around the structure.