Mar 28, 2008 7:18 pm US/Eastern
Gov. Crist Inspects Miami Crane Accident Site
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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A victim of a crane accident in Miami is led from the home where a portion of a high-rise crane collapsed atop the Paramount Bay condo project into the roof of a nearby home.
CBS
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Jeremy Thornsbury (left) and Terrance Hennessy were killed in Tuesday's crance accident in Miami.
CBS
Gov. Crist on Friday went to the site where a crane accident killed two people earlier this week in Miami, and where inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are continuing its investigation.
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and Miami Police Chief John Timoney also toured the site.
Gov. Crist said, "I'm very saddened about the loss of life. Our thoughts and our prayers go out to the families who lost loved ones. It's hard to describe when you see something like that. The mayor and I were able to see where the crane actually came through the house, and it's a horrible accident, a horrible tragedy."
Also, on Friday, a Miami-Dade County ordinance that beefs up inspections and safety measures for lifting cranes goes into effect. Crane operators will have to be specially trained and pass a test to demonstrate their ability to operate cranes. But it does not seem like this ordinance would have prevented the Miami crane accident, that's because the crane operator had especial certification and years of experience. He did not want to talk, but one of his union colleagues, Wally Utreras, did. Utreras has been a crane operator for five years. He believes that the ordinance is a good thing. "I think is a good thing especially with the amount of work that we had."
OSHA's area director Darlene Fossum, who heads the investigation into the accident, said it was too early to focus on any one factor as a cause of the accident. Everything will be considered; from the strength of the wind at the time of the accident (which will be downloaded from a device on the crane itself) to the "jumping" process that is used to lift new sections of the crane into place.
"We're going to accumulate as much evidence as quickly as we can to determine how this happened," said Fossum. "We have to look at a lot of factors. No one issue is being targeted. This investigation is going to take awhile."
Currently two compliance officers from OSHA are on the construction site and a crane expert was flown in from Washington, D.C. Fossum said OSHA would be interviewing witnesses first and then, by the end of the week, those who survived the accident.
On Thursday, Miami Fire rescue released 911 tapes, one of which had the recording from a supervisory employee:
Caller: "I have some guys injured here on a job site."
911: "What's the address?"
Caller: "2125 North Bayshore Drive. I have some guys underneath some section of a crane."
57-year old Theron Cook, 48-year old Russel Dyer, 31-year old Emanoel Souza all checked out of Jackson Memorial Hospital on Wednesday. A fourth man, whose name has not been released, remains hospitalized. A fifth man was treated for minor injuries at the scene and released.
Cook told CBS4, "It was just so instantaneous. The only real thing I saw were particles from the roof."
Miami police said 21-year-old Jeremy Thornsbury and 59-year-old Terrance Hennessy were killed when a portion of a crane working on the Paramount Bay high-rise construction project in downtown Miami fell, smashing through the roof of a nearby home made famous in the movie "There's Something About Mary."
Hennessy, a safety inspector for an insurance company, died at the construction site; Thornsbury, from Tamarac, died at Jackson Memorial's Ryder Trauma Center.
Worker James Richardson returned to the site reflected on co-worker Jeremy Thornsbury, "He was a good co-worker. I'm very sorry that happened to him. We all are going to miss him."
The accident happened at about 1:45 pm Tuesday at 2066 N. Bayshore drive in Miami.
Aerial pictures showed a portion of what appears to be the crane's body lying in a giant hole in the home's tile roof.
Local and Federal investigators aren't saying how the piece of crane fell. They're not revealing whether it was already attached to the tower crane, or if it was about to be connected to it.
The Paramount Bay condo is a high-rise 346-unit luxury complex. The 46-story building is located on Biscayne Bay and next to Margaret Pace Park.
Last week, the Miami-Dade commission approved an ordinance to regulate the use of high-rise cranes and to provide for the certification of crane operators. The county had been working on an ordinance since a fatal crane accident in 2006, but took immediate action after the collapse of a crane in Manhattan earlier this month.
No state law currently regulates the training or certification of crane operators. The ordinance does not take effect until 2009.
The general construction agency at the site of the fallen crane is Bovis Construction. Bovis subcontracted the work involving the crane to Baker Concrete our of Monroe, Ohio. Bovis is a subsidiary of Bovis Lend Lease, which has offices in Sydeny, Australia and London, England.
The company showed sales of more than $6.15 billion dollars in 2007.Bovis was the general contractor involved in a 2001 Australian accident that prompted a walk out by more than 100 workers.
The New York Times reported Bovis was also the general contractor at several work sites in and around New York where at least 3 workers died in accidents involving cranes.
The home damaged by the crane is known to movie viewers as a setting for a portion of the movie "There's Something About Mary" starring Cameron Diaz and Ben Stiller.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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