Worker rescued from Space Mountain roof
The man, who works for an outside firm, was cleaning the top of the popular attraction.
ANAHEIM – Firefighters rescued a Disneyland contract worker injured as he was cleaning the roof of Space Mountain on Wednesday morning, officials said.
The 37-year-old man was taken by ambulance to a hospital because of moderate injuries, said Jeff Lutz, fire marshal of the Anaheim Fire Department.
The man suffered a cut on his forehead, a broken left femur, a broken right clavicle and possibly broken ribs, said Greg Siggins, a spokesman with the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
At 7:05 a.m., the Fire Department responded to a call that a man had slid along the sloped roof of the Space Mountain building.
The man, contracted by Disney to clean the roof, was in a harness, called a bosun's chair, tied with a rope to an anchor point at the top.
He apparently slipped when one of the ropes came loose, but he was still in the chair when he slid about 20 feet. He was stopped when he hit a barricade at the bottom of the roof. Lutz estimated that the slant of the roof is about 45 degrees.
The urban-search-and-rescue unit used a specialized vehicle with a hinged ladder to rescue the man, who was put in a basket and lowered. It took 12 fire officials about 45 minutes for the rescue, Lutz said.
The incident occurred before Disneyland opened at 8 a.m.
Space Mountain remained in operation, said Suzi Brown, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman.
The man, whose name was not released, works for HSG Inc., a wall-cleaning and maintenance contractor. The state division will conduct an investigation if the man stays in the hospital more than 24 hours.
This is the second recent incident involving a worker injury linked to Space Mountain. On Oct. 3, a 68-year-old Disneyland machinist was critically injured when a ride vehicle struck him. The man was released from the hospital a week ago, Brown said. A state investigation into the October incident has yet to be released.
The white, modern-style Space Mountain opened in 1977 and is among the most recognizable buildings within Disneyland, rising 118 feet high and visible outside the park.