A person in crisis climbed to the top of a roughly 15-story construction crane near Dayton Ave. N. and N. 36th St. in Seattle on Tuesday, prompting firefighters and police to rush to the scene and begin working to bring the person down safely.
According to the Seattle Fire Dept.
, crews responded to reports of a person in crisis climbing to the top of the crane. Firefighters confirmed they had located the individual at the summit of the structure in a post published Tuesday. Fire crews said they were working alongside law enforcement to deescalate the situation and help the person get down from the crane.
The department’s update did not identify the person involved, nor did it describe their age, gender, or condition. It also did not specify which law enforcement agency was assisting on scene, or name the construction project tied to the crane.
What Remains Unknown
As of the fire department’s latest post, there was no word on how the standoff was resolved. The agency’s statement did not indicate whether the person descended on their own, was physically assisted down, or remained atop the crane. No information on injuries, arrests, or hospital transport was included in the update.
A crisis-related crane climb occurred in May 2019, when a man in an apparent mental-health crisis scaled a 300-foot construction crane in Southeast Portland and stayed at the top for more than five hours, according to oregonlive.com. Construction workers at that site called 911 around 1:10 p.m. after spotting the man climbing near Southeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Ankeny Street, the outlet reported.
How Past Crane Standoffs Have Ended
In the Portland case, police used binoculars to monitor the man and a loudspeaker to try to communicate with him, per the same report. Eventually, six firefighters and police officers climbed the crane themselves to deliver supplies, including Gatorade and a phone, so an officer could keep talking with him. The man ultimately climbed down using the crane’s ladder around 6:30 p.m. and was taken to a hospital for evaluation, oregonlive.com reported.
Crane emergencies don’t always involve a person in crisis. In Fort Worth, firefighters once rescued a crane operator who became stranded 220 feet above the ground after suffering a medical emergency at a job site across from a hospital, according to cbsnews.com. Four firefighters climbed the crane to reach the operator, and the department has since considered working with the crane company to train more firefighters for similar high-angle rescues, the outlet noted.
It remains unclear how Tuesday’s situation in Seattle was ultimately resolved. Hoodline will update this story as more verified details become available from official sources.
