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Firefighters Rescue Window Washers Trapped 25 Stories Above the Street

A motor in an electrical lift burnt out Monday, trapping a pair of window washers 25 flights above the ground.
A motor in an electrical lift burnt out Monday, trapping a pair of window washers 25 flights above the ground.
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DNAinfo/Della Hasselle

By Della Hasselle

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer


MANHATTAN — Firefighters had to rescue a pair of window washers trapped 25 stories up the side of a Fifth Avenue building on Monday morning.

The unidentified workers had been cleaning the side of 575 Fifth Ave. at East 47th Street when their electrical lift's motor burnt out around 10:50 a.m., an FDNY spokesman said.

FDNY rescue crews cut through a window to rescue them shortly before 11:30, fire officials said.

“They had to cut the glass of a window to get him out. It was not a good situation,” said Louis Williams, 41, who works as the doorman in the building where the washers were trapped.

Police rerouted onlookers to adjoining blocks, and fire trucks monitored the area to make sure that the hanging scaffolding was not a danger to civilians.

Firefighters had to slice open a window to rescue the pair of window washers trapped midair at 47th St. and Fifth Ave.
Firefighters had to slice open a window to rescue the pair of window washers trapped midair at 47th St. and Fifth Ave.
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DNAinfo/Della Hasselle

Williams said the washers worked for Quality Building Services Corporation.
The company did not return several calls for comment.

NYPD and FDNY workers shut down part of 47th St. after window washers were trapped mid-air at 575 5th Avenue.
NYPD and FDNY workers shut down part of 47th St. after window washers were trapped mid-air at 575 5th Avenue.
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DNAinfo/Della Hasselle