PEORIA, Ill. — Six people replacing a Peoria church’s roof Wednesday afternoon got stuck on the roof, prompting a call to Peoria Fire and Rescue.
Crews were dispatched around 3:00 to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on S. Richard Pryor on a report a lift the workers were using was malfunctioning.
The roof was 55 feet off the ground, according to Battalion Chief Clint Kuhlman.
“They must have been up there through the rainstorm, because we got the call shortly after it stopped raining. Very dangerous,” he said.
“They were all tethered off with their safety harnesses on the roof. I would assume it was probably the rain that may have caused their lift to stop operating.”
An aerial ladder truck was deployed to bring four of the crew members to safety.
While that rescue was being made, a representative of the lift company arrived on scene and fixed the equipment, which was then used to lower the remaining two workers.
This roof rescue was the second such occurrence this week for the Peoria Fire Department, as a man on Monday was brought down from a business building’s rooftop.
