3 Injured After Rebar Tower Falls At Fremont Construction Site
FREMONT (CBS SF) – A 20-foot rebar tower fell at a construction site in Fremont Wednesday, injuring three workers including one critically, fire officials said.
Fremont Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Youngsma said the three workers were strapped to the tower at a massive construction site on Durham Road when it tumbled at 8:57 a.m.
"The three individuals were strapped onto a rebar tower, it got overweight and it caused it to collapse," he said. "The entire tower fell on the three individuals. Fellow construction workers managed to get all the rebar off."
Youngsma said arriving fire crews began to render medical care to the injured.
"One was critical, one was a moderate injury and one was a leg (injury)," he said. "All three were transported to trauma centers...All three are expected to survive their injuries."
Queens Land Construction tells KPIX 5 each tower is made of six pieces of rebar. Each piece is three quarters of an inch thick and they're set into the concrete foundation.
A company spokesperson said they thought it was strong enough to handle all that weight.
"They climb onto the tower, they clip on to the top, and what they do is they tie in these towers to make them much stronger so as they put in their cement pillars, as they put up base layers, they put up walls," said Youngsma. "This is part of that construction. So, it was probably in the most vulnerable part of its construction these individuals were clipped in."
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health has been notified of the accident and will handle the investigation into it.
When it's done, the project will be called mission hills square, a mixed use development with 158 residential units and more than 50,000 square feet of retail space.
Cal-OSHA still has an open investigation on this same construction company at the same jobsite.
Back in June, a worker was putting in caulking when he fell from the second story.
Youngsma said it was estimated that it was about 1,000 pounds of rebar that fell onto the workers. He added the construction company was cooperating with authorities.
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