A construction worker was pulled to safety Thursday afternoon after collapsing on scaffolding outside an apartment building at Castlegate and Woodbourne avenues in Pittsburgh's Brookline neighborhood. According to on-scene accounts, the man passed out when his head brushed against high-tension electrical wires as he stood up on the suspended platform. Emergency crews used a rope system to guide him through an open window, where medics evaluated him before he was taken to the hospital with second-degree burns to his head.
As reported by WTAE, Pittsburgh Public Safety said dispatchers got the call just before 2 p.m. about a person dangling from scaffolding outside the building. According to the station, EMS rescue crews carried out a rope rescue to get the man off the platform, then examined him at the scene before transporting him to the hospital.
How Crews Pulled Off the High-Rise Rescue
Pittsburgh's EMS Rescue Division is trained and equipped for high-angle rope rescues and operates heavy rescue trucks, as detailed in the City of Pittsburgh 2023 EMS performance audit. Those capabilities line up with what played out in Brookline, where rescuers stabilized the platform, secured the patient, and brought him inside through a window when lowering the scaffold was not considered safe.
Live Wires, Scaffolds and the Safety Rules
Federal safety guidance says scaffolds and any conductive materials must stay at least 10 feet from overhead power lines unless the utility de-energizes the lines or installs protective coverings. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration warns that contact with energized lines can cause electrocution and severe burns, which is why crews coordinate with utilities and rely on specialized rope techniques when a scaffold is close to live wires; see OSHA for details.
Second Electrical Injury in a Week
The Brookline rescue follows a similar case in Greenfield earlier in the week, when a worker was hospitalized with second-degree burns after gutters contacted a home's main power line, according to CBS Pittsburgh. In that incident, Duquesne Light crews shut off power while firefighters and paramedics removed and treated the injured worker.
Officials have not released the Brookline worker's name and have not provided an immediate update on his condition after he was taken to the hospital. Pittsburgh Public Safety and EMS have not offered additional details beyond the initial statement, and the account from WTAE remains the latest publicly available information.
