On Monday, December 1, at approximately 10:30 a.m., a tower technician fell from a cell tower and later succumbed to his injuries, according to the Douglas County, Wisconsin Sheriff’s Office in a brief statement.
Sheriff Matt Izzard said his agency received a report that a male worker had fallen roughly 100 feet from a structure located off Industrial Park Road in Lake Nebagamon. Multiple medical agencies responded, and emergency personnel administered CPR and attempted to revive the technician using a defibrillator. The worker, later identified as Gere Thomas Walden of South Carolina, was pronounced dead at the tower site.
Authorities confirmed that Walden was employed by Cross Communications LLC, whose crew was performing maintenance services on the tower. Izzard stated that Walden had been wearing a fall-protection harness at the time of the incident. However, neither deputies nor anyone on site could determine whether he had been properly secured to the structure prior to the fall, nor whether an equipment failure occurred. That will remain unknown unless a co-worker witnessed whether Walden was tied off at the moment he fell. Izzard provided no other information…