[TWIAR] Tower Accident Kills Klamath Falls Man (California)

[Greg Williams]

http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0516/local/stories/tower_fall_5-16.htm 


A Klamath Falls man died Sunday when a radio tower he was working on in 
Northern California toppled.

Ron James Spears, 44, was retrieving a "ham" radio antenna from the top 
of a 160-foot tower on private property off Sheep Mountain Road near 
MacDoel, Calif., the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office reported.

A sheriff's office release said Spears had bought a 40-meter ham radio 
antenna mounted atop the tower and planned to climb up, dismantle it and 
bring it down in pieces.

Spears told the man he bought the equipment from that he had built the 
tower and antenna for the previous owner and was experienced in tower 
construction and removal, the release said.

Spears had inspected the tower for safety before climbing it, his 
father, who accompanied Spears to the tower, told investigators. He was 
about 10 feet from the top of the tower when it snapped and fell to the 
ground at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

The sheriff's office said Spears suffered massive head injuries and was 
pronounced dead at the scene.