Originally Published: November 14, 2013 6 a.m.
PRESCOTT - Two men working on scaffolding were injured Tuesday, one potentially seriously, when the rigging collapsed as they painted the exterior of a multistory home, a fire department spokesman said.
It happened at about 10:40 a.m. in the 2000 block of Butterfly Ridge Road.
Fire crews arrived to find one man, reportedly in his 60s, who fell the entire 30 feet and lost consciousness on impact, Prescott Fire spokesman Conrad Jackson said. Although he was unconscious for "several minutes," he was awake and alert when paramedics arrived, Jackson said, but had no memory of the fall.
Medics believed he could have internal injuries, so he was immobilized on a spinal board and taken to Yavapai Regional Medical Center, and from there, flown to John C. Lincoln North Mountain hospital in Phoenix for further assessment.
The man's co-worker also fell, but he slid down a ladder as the scaffolding collapsed and ended up with only a small laceration to his hand, Jackson said.
Jackson noted that bystanders correctly kept the victim from moving around until rescue crews arrived, pointing out that he could have suffered worse injuries had he moved unnecessarily.