Man Safe after Dangling from Illini Union Clock Tower

On July 25, 2018 at 12:36 p.m., the Urbana Fire Department received a report of a man dangling from the Illini Union clock tower. UFD responded with two engines (E254 & E251) and a ladder company (L261) along with incident command (C220). Firefighters found a sub-contractor who was performing repair work on the clock face of the clock tower had lost his footing and was in peril of sliding off of the roof had it not been for his safety rope attached to him. Firefighters used the aerial ladder and a roof ladder to get onto roof and safely escort this man down to the ground. The man refused medical treatment by paramedics on standby and then spent some time thanking the firefighters who came to his rescue today. The Urbana Fire Department has one of the few state wide technical rescue teams and they are very well trained for all technical rescues such as trench rescue, confined space, collapse rescue and in the case of today’s incident: high angle rescue.

Urbana Mayor, Diane Marlin said that the City is pleased with the outcome.

“Our firefighters are highly trained for technical rescues. This one posed unique challenges. They were successful in getting this man to safety,” The Mayor said.