Authorities closed off some streets in San Francisco's Financial District Friday morning for more than two hours as a window-washing rig hung precariously from a high-rise at Embarcadero One.
Police said no one was on the scaffolding platform when it slipped over the edge.
"The thing weighs almost 2,000 pounds, so I talked to the guy, the engineer, who is in charge and asked, 'Is this thing in danger of falling?' The look on his face. I said, 'Hey we better get up there'", San Francisco Battalion Chief Marty Ross said. .
The rig was first reported dangling about 7 a.m. from the 40th floor of a 41-story high building at 301 Clay Street.
As a precaution, police closed Battery Street between Sacramento and Clay streets and also shut down the 28th through 30th floors of the building where the rig was located. A nearby building was also evacuated because it was directly below the dangling rig.
A window washer performed a spiderman-like move down the side of the building on a tether to secure the rig. He was successful and the rig was pulled back up and over the edge of the building.
Meanwhile, a crowd of onlookers gathered below to watch the unusual sight.
RAW VIDEO: Window-Washing Rig Dangles
"Everybody was looking up. I thought it was worse. Fortunately no one was on it. A little bit shocking," Lynn Moreno said.
Police reported the window-washing rig had been secured at about 9:20 a.m..
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Everything reopened at 9:38 a.m., the fire official said.
San Francisco Municipal Railway buses on the 1-California and 41-Union routes were temporarily rerouted around the scene, Muni officials said.
No injuries were reported. It was immediately clear how the rig came to be in such a precarious position.
