By Heather Ratcliffe
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS,  — Before an audience of the downtown lunch crowd, St. Louis firefighters on Tuesday rescued a window washer stuck six stories up on a boom lift that had buckled when the sidewalk collapsed under it

Walter Rainey, an employee of Archway Window Cleaning, was washing windows at the Mel Carnahan Courthouse at 11th and Market streets when the lift tipped about 11 a.m.

Rainey told fire officials that he was moving his boom lift from one bank of windows to another when the concrete gave way. The fully extended lift tipped over and hit the side of the courthouse.

Rainey was not injured but was stuck at the top of the lift for about 30 minutes. He sipped water and talked on his cell phone while waiting for help.

Firefighters lifted a ladder to the trapped man while other rescuers on a balcony lowered a harness rope to him in case he fell. The crowd applauded when Rainey reached the ground.

The collapsed sidewalk damaged underground steam pipes. Firefighters stood by while a contracting crew removed the tipped lift machine from the sidewalk several hours later.

Copyright 2007 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
All Rights Reserved