August 21, 2008

Construction worker tumbles into hole at Fallsview Plaza Hotel job site

NIAGARA FALLS

A 38-year-old construction worker at the Fallsview Plaza Hotel has one more reason to quit smoking, reports the Niagara Falls Review.

Emergency crews were called to the scene at the former Renaissance Hotel last week to a call a man had fallen into an excavation hole.

Alec Harper, an employee of the Balmain Group out of Toronto which is doing renovations at the site, slipped 25 feet when reaching to grab a cigarette from a co-worker in the hole below, reports the paper.

A spokesman for the Fallsview Group, which operates the Embassy Suites and Fallsview Plaza hotels, said Harper was on a coffee break before putting up a security fence at the site when the accident occurred.

Niagara Falls Fire Dept. platoon chief Ken Moore said a crane operator pitched in to assist emergency crews by hooking the basket up to his machine. He said this help allowed emergency workers to get Harper out of the hole quickly.

Moore said Harper was conscious when he was brought up to street level. Harper, who was transferred to an ambulance, is expected to make a full recovery.

DCN News Services

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