HOUSTON – Two window washers were rescued Monday after getting stuck on scaffolding dangling on the side of Houston's tallest building.
The call came in around 10:40 a.m.
"One guy was in the middle of it, standing right outside our window and the other guy was a floor down," said Terri Richardson, who witnessed the entire wild event from her 71st-floor office in the Chase Tower.
Sky 2 aerials showed the scaffolding hanging askew from the side of the Chase Tower at 600 Travis St. The two workers were stuck on the window-washing platform near the 71st floor.
"That looks like just about my worst nightmare. It's pretty terrifying. I'm sure those guys are really cold up there too," witness Tyler Ferguson told KPRC 2.
One of the scaffold's elevation motors malfunctioned, causing the precarious tilt, the Houston Fire Department said.
"They were hanging on for dear life, for sure. They were facing the building looking in. So I'm sure that everybody inside the Chase Tower was freaking out hoping that they were going to be OK. They were just holding on," witness Amy Lafargue said.
Around 11: 20 a.m., one of the glass windows near the scaffolding was removed and HFD firefighters placed a rope around the workers, who were then brought inside the building to safety.
"When you're dealing with something so high, that's when you have to bring in the rescue team for high-angle rescue. Certain things that they know that an ordinary person wouldn't. It's tedious. I'm certain on their end. Just sit back and let them do what they do," Kenyatta Parker with the Houston Fire Department said.
Neither of the workers was injured.
"They were extremely calm, which is surprising," Richardson said.
The window washers are employed with Jobs Building Services. A representative said both of the workers are OK, but declined to comment further.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident.
The Chase Tower is the tallest building in Texas, and the tallest five-sided building in the world.