CANADA - Multiple fatalities after crane collapses in downtown Kelowna, B.C., 12 July 2021

[LadyL]

Multiple people are dead after a crane attached to a high-rise building under construction collapsed in downtown Kelowna, B.C., on Monday, police said.

BC Emergency Health Services (BC EHS) said 12 ground ambulances were dispatched to the scene, including two critical care teams.

The City of Kelowna has declared a local state of emergency in response to the threat to people and property caused by the crane collapse.

Multiple fatalities after crane collapses in downtown Kelowna, police say | Globalnews.ca

 

[dotr]

Multiple fatalities after crane collapses in downtown Kelowna | Vancouver Sun

Crane had people on board when it collapsed at high-rise construction site in Kelowna. Photo by Alistair Waters for Kelowna Daily Courier /PNG

''Multiple people are dead and several more are injured after a crane collapsed at a downtown Kelowna construction site Monday morning.''

''The accident happened near St. Paul Street and Bernard Avenue around 11 a.m. at the Bernard Block, a major three-tower residential and commercial project being constructed by Okanagan builder Mission Group.''

 

[dotr]

Multiple dead in crane collapse downtown Kelowna - Kelowna News
''It's a parents worst nightmare, one an Edmonton couple is living through as they sit by the phone for word on their son.

The couple, who Castanet will not identify, received word earlier today the crane their son was working on in downtown Kelowna, had collapsed. They don't know anything else.

"The only thing that we know is basically what everybody else knows, is that at this point they seem to have four fatalities. We have heard the names of two, but we don't know the names of the others," the father told Castanet.

"We heard through a different source who two of the people were, and neither one of them are our son. There are two people who supposedly have not been identified."

Police have so far not confirmed a number of fatalities in Monday's incident, only saying "multiple people" were killed and that they were working to confirm the identities of all the victims.

The father said they just want to know the fate of their son and the worst part is waiting, not knowing.''

 

[dotr]

July 13 2021 rbbm.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kelowna-crane-collapse-update-1.6100882

''RCMP say four men were killed when a crane collapsed at a work site in Kelowna, B.C., on Monday, with a fifth man buried in the rubble and presumed dead.

Police confirmed the fatalities at a news conference on Tuesday.

"Yesterday was a tragic day," said RCMP Insp. Adam MacIntosh. "To see all those workers standing there, knowing they had just lost some of their friends and co-workers, and to see the families and what they were dealing with, I can only imagine what they're going through."

''MacIntosh said the four men confirmed dead were subcontractors working on site. The crane's operator is believed to be among those killed.

The fifth man presumed dead was working in the office building next door and wasn't associated with the construction project. He remains buried in the debris.


RCMP said officers will be working to recover the man's body on Tuesday.

MacIntosh said two other people who were hospitalized after the collapse have since been released.''

 

[IceIce9]

The video of the worker shimmying to safety!

 

[Dawookie]

This is one of the reasons I didn't go into cranes when I had to make a choice in my apprenticeship. Dismantling self erecting towers is a risky situation. Winds have to be right, balance has to be right when removing sections etc.

Looking at the winds around the time of the accident, they don't seem too bad but still could have played a factor. Tower cranes are designed have the turntable left unlocked when not in use so that it's swings with the wind like a weather vane. If the operator had the swing locked when they were removing a section and got hit by a gust of wind, it could have caused everything to twist and weakend the bracing in a section of mast causing a failure.

If the crane somehow got out of balance when removing a section, it too could cause a catastrophic failure.

If there was a weakened section that was unseen and that section took too much and pressure, it would collapse bringing everything above it down.

 

[LadyL]

Fifth body of victim in Kelowna, B.C., crane collapse is pulled from rubble

 

[LadyL]

This is one of the reasons I didn't go into cranes when I had to make a choice in my apprenticeship. Dismantling self erecting towers is a risky situation. Winds have to be right, balance has to be right when removing sections etc.

Looking at the winds around the time of the accident, they don't seem too bad but still could have played a factor. Tower cranes are designed have the turntable left unlocked when not in use so that it's swings with the wind like a weather vane. If the operator had the swing locked when they were removing a section and got hit by a gust of wind, it could have caused everything to twist and weakend the bracing in a section of mast causing a failure.

If the crane somehow got out of balance when removing a section, it too could cause a catastrophic failure.

If there was a weakened section that was unseen and that section took too much and pressure, it would collapse bringing everything above it down.

thanks for that info
what is a self erecting tower?

 

[IceIce9]

Interestingly, the clinic where I am working recently had a crane operator come in for his CDL physical. He mentioned that he also had to have a special, specific physical for his crane operator license.

We didn’t do the speciality physical in our clinic, but it did make me curious about the requirements for obtaining and maintaining certification to operate a big crane.

 

[Dawookie]

thanks for that info
what is a self erecting tower?

You're welcome. It's a crane that basically builds itself. There's no need to bring in other cranes to build the tower and put the cab and jib assembly on. It's has what's called a climbing tower it sits on that allows it to raise itself up to fit a new 20ft mast section in.

 

[Dawookie]

Interestingly, the clinic where I am working recently had a crane operator come in for his CDL physical. He mentioned that he also had to have a special, specific physical for his crane operator license.

We didn’t do the speciality physical in our clinic, but it did make me curious about the requirements for obtaining and maintaining certification to operate a big crane.

That interesting, I had heard they stopped doing those and were allowing the DOT physicals in place.

 

[al66pine]

Cranes.

You're welcome. It's a crane that basically builds itself. There's no need to bring in other cranes to build the tower and put the cab and jib assembly on. It's has what's called a climbing tower it sits on that allows it to raise itself up to fit a new 20ft mast section in.

@Dawookie
Thanks for ^ post & your other post w info about the thing swinging like a weather vane. Seems I learn something new on WS every day.
{{{ETA: Crane operators must have nerves of steel, w ice water running thru their veins. Very dangerous job.}}}
Such a tragedy, those lives lost in Kelowna, a beautiful area.
___________________________________
Years ago I worked on 12th story of office tower w floor to ceiling glass ext. walls. When a new bldg was going up next door, a crane operated daily for months. Sometimes it seemed materials being lifted - like steel beams - were going to fly off the hook and crash thru the window-wall. Seated only a few feet from that glass, I recall ducking more than once.
Crane (machine) - Wikipedia

 

[Dawookie]

Cranes.
@Dawookie
Thanks for ^ post & your other post w info about the thing swinging like a weather vane. Seems I learn something new on WS every day.
{{{ETA: Crane operators must have nerves of steel, w ice water running thru their veins. Very dangerous job.}}}
Such a tragedy, those lives lost in Kelowna, a beautiful area.
___________________________________
Years ago I worked on 12th story of office tower w floor to ceiling glass ext. walls. When a new bldg was going up next door, a crane operated daily for months. Sometimes it seemed materials being lifted - like steel beams - were going to fly off the hook and crash thru the window-wall. Seated only a few feet from that glass, I recall ducking more than once.
Crane (machine) - Wikipedia

You're welcome. You would think it would take a strong wind to turn them but it actually doesn't take much at all.

And yeah, tower crane guys are a different breed. They go up and the beginning of the shift and don't come down until the shift is over. Got told a story going through classes about one in Las Vegas whose boss radioed up to him asking about what he wanted for lunch. He jokingly told them I want filet mignon and lobster, said an hour later here comes a laborer up the tower with it. If you're a good one, they sort of cater to you