WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, July 11, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Three West Valley City firefighters, and a patient they were attempting to rescue after a reported fall, have been injured in a construction site accident.
A tweet posted by the West Valley City Police Department said, “Firefighters responded to a fall at a construction site at 1770 W. 4100 South. In the process of rescuing the initial patient, an interior staircase collapsed injuring all parties.”
“As you can imagine, the firefighters who work with them are pretty upset,” said Roxanne Vainuku, West Valley City PD’s public information officer.
She said neighboring agencies are covering some the department’s calls while firefighters wait at the two hospitals where their injured co-workers were conveyed.
The city building inspector is on scene investigating the interior stairway’s collapse and OSHA has been notified, she said.
The injured woman had been working on a scaffolding on the exterior of the building when she fell possibly two stories, landing on a balcony, Vainuku said. Firefighters were carrying her down the interior stairway when it collapsed, causing them to fall roughly one-story.
The firefighter who was transported by helicopter was listed in serious condition, Vainuku said. The others, who sustained less serious injuries, were transported by ground ambulance .
Gephardt Daily will update this developing story as more information is made available.
