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Tower Climber Dies While Working On WFSX Tower

DToTheJ said:
The tower was being used by "Fox News 92.5" in Fort Myers, which had to sign off the air while the body was being recovered.
http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2361491&spid=24698
Click to expand...

That tower is also used for WCKT/Cat Country 107.1 and WBTT/The Beat 105.5 along with 92.5. WTLT/Lite 93.7 also us to be located there until they moved their transmitter northward toward Ft Myers. That tower was the original location for the local ABC TV affiliate back when it was WEVU TV. That tower has been around since the 1970's I believe and has been used by many organizations over the years.

A big hand is needed to all the local rescuers who tried to save this man and then later had to bring his body down. RIP my friend.
 
Yes, Nick Rouskey was the guy. It still isn't clear exactly how he died. I've heard electrocution but that seems a bit far fetched.
The tower is owned by Supertowers. They also own a 1249' tower off Corkscrew Rd. It is home to WRXK, WXKB, WWGR and a plethora of cell phone stuff.
 
A few questions need to be asked and answered

1. Was he wearing a Narda RFR meter? (seemed to me from reading the material available, all of the high power was on the air)
2. Where was tower manager Super Nazi Jerry? (I have dealt with him and he is a PITA if you want on the tower)
3. Was this scheduled with other broadcasters? (I have a hard time believing anyone would schedule time away from family to do tower work)
4. Electrocution covers a lot of territory, my bet is on RF radiation from none of the tenants reducing power, did they?
5. Was there no safety protocol? (15 minutes of no comm's should have been a "big red flag")
6. He was hanging tangled in wires, this should have been easily seen from the ground with binoculars. Was the kid on the ground trained in this work?

This is an extreme tragedy and should have NEVER happened, the family deserves to know the truth, I am looking into some insight from a source close to the situation but just from what has been published, this stinks all day.

I find tower crews, even reputable ones, without RFR meters all the time and throw them off the tower. The cold hard truth is this death likely rests on Nick, I hate to say it but he did know better then going up a tower with everyone at full power. This clearly shows even seasoned vets can have "accidents"
 
A lot of valid points hdradioeng, but you are overlooking one of the most likely scenarios. This gentleman was 61 years old. Does this tower have an elevator or did he hoof it up to the top beacon at 800'? As a retired paramedic my first thought would be sudden cardiac arrest. This could occur even without a history of heart problems, or any he would admit to considering his occupation. Electrocution would be high on my list too (also causing cardiac arrest) but there would be evidence of that, and hopefully even for a bulb change the breaker would have been opened and tagged out.

My biggest heartburn with this incident is that it appears witnesses away from the tower site were the first to see the problem and call 911. When someone is working on any of my towers I wants "eyes on the climber" at all times. Sadly, even with immediate notification of the emergency I doubt EMS intervention would have come quickly enough to change the outcome.
 
Nostalgia said:
A lot of valid points hdradioeng, but you are overlooking one of the most likely scenarios.
Click to expand...

I am basing my statements on the fact the family was quoted as saying it was electrocution.

The coroners report should have cause of death, I have not seen that.
 
I am 99.9999999999% sure it was not electrocution.
 
That's an unfortunate story. I am curious about tower inspections. Who would inspect a tower at say 750 feet and are they checking wiring or structural integrity? That's a new one on me.
 
It's pretty common to have a tower inspected regularly, and I would expect such an inspection to include the tower lighting.
 
It wasn't electrocution. And Nick had been hired to replace the top beacon.
 
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