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Two Workers Lucky to Be Alive After Catastrophic Equipment Failure, Fall at Facebook Building Under Construction: FD

Two iron workers were injured Wednesday evening after a catastrophic equipment failure caused part of a Facebook building under construction to collapse, according to the Menlo Park Fire Protection District.

At 5:21 p.m., firefighters responded to Facebook’s new Building 21 on reports that two workers had fallen and were injured, officials said. Both men, one in his late 20s and the other in his early 30s, were complaining of significant lower extremity pain and puncture wounds and were transported to a hospital, fire officials said. 

According to other workers at the site, the victims had been working at an estimated height of 40 feet assembling the structure's steel framing when the steel beam they were standing on dropped nearly 20 feet, catching on a lower floor assembly and propelling them toward the ground, fire officials said.

The pair's safety harnesses broke their fall, likely saving their lives. Chief Harold Schapelhouman said that it's a miracle the workers survived.

As of Thursday morning, work had paused on the site until Cal-OSHA gets to the bottom of the accident. 

Sunnyvale-based Level 10 Construction is the contractor for the site, but it remains unclear whether the two injured workers were employed by the company. 

Local 377, the union that represents the workers at the job site, declined to comment Thursday.

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