Window Washers Dangle Perilously

Two window washers were stranded 140 feet up Wednesday after their scaffolding broke outside a casino.

The men, employees of Clean and Polish Window Cleaners, of Rockville, Md., were working on windows outside the 14th floor of the Tropicana Casino and Resort when one side of the scaffold gave way about 12:45 p.m., Deputy Fire Chief Fred Sacco said.

Held in place by body harnesses connected to the roof, the two hung in place for about an hour, Sacco said.

Neither was hurt. They were identified as Jose Agular, 26, of Arlington, Va., and Rigoberto Perez-Rivera, 29, of Washington, D.C.

"The one guy was still on the scaffold when we arrived. He climbed up and into a window. The other guy, we hooked him up to another line and lowered him down." The rescue was delayed by about 15 minutes while firefighters lowered a two-way radio to the second man, who spoke Spanish. That was necessary because he was resisting firefighters' efforts to raise him up, disconnecting him from a safety rope, before lowering him, Sacco said. "He thought we were lifting him up to the roof, so he kept putting more tension on the line. We wanted to tell him what we were doing," Sacco said.

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Author: 6 ABC-AP