Posted on 11/17/2006 6:20:36 AM PST by Ramius
One killed when construction crane collapses in Bellevue
10:31 PM PST on Thursday, November 16, 2006
KING5.com
KING
A construction crane collapse in downtown Bellevue Thursday evening.
BELLEVUE, Wash. - One person was killed when a construction crane collapsed Thursday night at about 7:45 p.m. in downtown Bellevue on 180th Avenue NE near NE 4th Street.
The west side of Pinnacle Bell Centre Apartments was torn away when the crane came down.
The dead person was found in the top floor of the apartment building, Bellevue Fire Department Lt. Bruce Kroon said.
The top floor of the Pinnacle Bell Centre Apartments was crushed and the building immediately next to the crane was damaged extensively, Kroon said.
The crane also hit at least two other buildings – the Civica Office Commons and Plaza 305.
Rescue teams made an extensive search of the area. Their biggest concern was Plaza 305 where two stories completely collapsed and the first floor and basement are seriously damaged.
The crane fell several feet from The Melting Pot restaurant, which was full of diners at the time. Everyone was evacuated and no one inside or outside the restaurant was hurt.
It wasn't immediately known whether additional people were hurt. Officers were going to door to door to check on people, but hadn't been able to get into one building because of damage, Kroon said.
The crane's operator was also hurt but reportedly was going to be OK, police spokesman Greg Grannis said.
Firefighters used a ladder to retrieve the operator from about 20 to 30 feet above the ground, but he was able to pull himself out of the cage, Kroon said. He was taken to nearby Overlake Hospital.
The crane operator told the fire department he was getting ready to shut down for the night, when he heard a crack and the crane went down, striking four buildings, Kroon said.
The crane was working on 333 Bellevue Tower, which is an office building that has been vacant for a few years, Kroon said.
The cause of the accident was not immediately known.
The crane is blocking 108th Avenue NE. between NE 2th Street and NE 4th Street.
KING5.com's Karin Czulik and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ping to some Bellevue news!
Working a crane that size in the dark seems dangerous from the start.
Saw this footage on the news just now... It sliced right down through the building.
Actually, it collapsed last night, about 8pm. The operator was going through the process of putting it away for the night.
That operator needs to buy some lottery tickets... today!
Agreed ;~)
My wife's headquarters is at 108th Ave. She was there all last week. She just recieved an e-mail from one of the corporate guys(we're in FL).Thanks for posting this!!
Yikes. There's some pretty serious damage to one or two office buildings. Was their office part of that?
I work in Bellevue, but across town from this event. I'm in the Eastgate area.
Other cams:
http://www.cityofbellevue.org/trafficcam/
I'm in Eastgage, too! However, we're moving offices to 108th (just a couple blocks North) by the end of the year. I like Eastgate better than downtown.
There was a several-thousand-response thread to this that has somehow been deleted.
Wasn't the man killed a Microsoft Attorney?
A patent attorney...just like the ones who advocate for FR inventors/patent-seekers.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/292873_victim18.html
The Victim: Friends mourn man 'enthusiastic for life'
Saturday, November 18, 2006
By CLAUDIA ROWE
P-I REPORTER
During less than six months in the Seattle area, Matthew Ammon had such an effect that his co-workers at Microsoft, reeling at the young man's sudden death, described him in the same terms as those who had known the young patent lawyer for years.
"Hugely enthusiastic," said one after another. A bright spot.
Ammon
The 31-year-old, who moved here in June at the behest of Microsoft's legal team, died from rib, pelvis and other fractures Thursday when a crane crashed into his Bellevue apartment building. Reached at home in Texas, Ammon's father, who had learned shortly before of his son's death, was too distraught to comment.But in photographs, online postings and interviews, a picture emerged of a man who grabbed life with gusto -- a race-car hobbyist who eagerly offered help to other automotive fans, and approached his work as a lawyer with equal zeal.
Born in Pittsburgh, Ammon received his bachelor's degree in computer science from Bethany College in West Virginia, and went on to earn a law degree from Duquesne University, concentrating on patent law.
He spent the next seven years moving into increasingly high-powered positions -- from firms in Pittsburgh to Austin, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Kansas City, Mo., -- before signing on with the legal division at Microsoft.
Back in Kansas City, where Ammon last worked at the intellectual property law firm Shook Hardy & Bacon, former colleagues were so upset at the news that many left the office early. Friends from the Audi Car Club grasped for ways to connect and commiserate.
For those who knew him, the young man's verve for life made the suddenness of his death all the more stunning.
"It's an incredibly tough day around here today," said Mike Gross, chairman of the intellectual property section at Shook Hardy & Bacon. "Just absolutely devastating. He was a fascinating guy -- enthusiastic for life. That's the one word to describe him."
In two years at the firm, Ammon made himself so indispensable as a Microsoft patent lawyer that Gross had shuddered to think of his leaving.
Apparently, Ammon knew it, and with typical wry humor long ago e-mailed the older lawyer with news that he was moving to a new office.
"It practically gave me a heart attack," Gross said.
"I thought he was leaving the firm. But he was just messing with me. He was going up one floor."
It surprised no one, however, when Ammon's contacts in Redmond finally did offer the fast-rising lawyer a position in the Northwest. To those who knew him, it seemed a no-brainer. Ammon loved the outdoors -- mountain biking, in particular -- and his taste for intellectual innovation made him an obvious match for the world's largest technology corporation.
"We were thrilled his past year when we were able to persuade him," said Brad Smith, senior vice president and general counsel at Microsoft. Though Ammon had been on campus only a short time, Smith added, "the impression he made was both a deep and lasting one."
At least he probably never knew what hit him.
Ammon
:Sigh:
They are getting younger and younger.
They are getting younger and younger.
There were some people on an earlier post (Lady Jag...thank goodness that has been deleted, even though I didn't ask for it) who said, "It's no big deal."
I spent a good part of the day showering from contact.
when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book,
but translated into a better language;
and every chapter must be so translated...
As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come:
so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....
No man is an island, entire of itself...
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind;
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
John Donne
All mankind is of one author, and is one volume;
when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book,
but translated into a better language;
and every chapter must be so translated...
As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come:
so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....
No man is an island, entire of itself...
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind;
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
John Donne
Beautiful, my friend!
This crane operator is being railroaded...and whoever is the Admin Mod tonight won't let me post it.
Thanks for the ping. Can't believe I missed this story.
The PI graphic upthread is SOP for them: gruesome curiosity a la Geraldo Rivera.
The operator is probably still in shock (not exactly a stenographer-safe job!) and watching the Pravda Izvestia pile on his personal life is sickening. He wouldn't have had the job if he was a drugged-out deadbeat.
God, I hate this town sometimes.
Thanks, Jeff...this is one of those stories that I think I will be proven right in the days to come.
Stupidly awkward sentence...but you know what I mean. This poor (admittedly flawed) schmuck will have good grounds for a lawsuit.
One innocent man has lost his life, and a family has lost a son.
And the PI is trying to make chicken salad, going for a Pulitzer at the expense of his pained loved ones.
Last Days, my FRiend.
Take care...
I just have to have it proven to me that this (admittedly flawed) crane operator's history has anything to do with the accident.
I hope the next few days will prove me out.
Thanks, buddy. We shall soon see.
I understand Bellevue now has a Trader Vic's. We should get a few FReepers over there some night.
Have a good weekend.
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