The modest crane driver who saved a workman from the roof of a burning £750million Reading development today played down his Hollywood-style rescue – but admitted: ‘It has not been your average day at work’.
Footage of Glen Edwards moving a cage through smoke and flame to save his unnamed colleague revealed his skills as an operator – and just how close to death the man he saved could have been.
Mr Edwards, 65, has revealed he saw the workman because he was waving his coat – begging for help as the blaze surrounded him.
Under huge pressure Glen, from Egham, Surrey, then managed to expertly drop a cabin on to the top of the £750m One Station Hill office development close to Reading Station as the building was engulfed in flames. There were huge cheers from the ground as the man jumped into the cage and was winched down to safety in scenes.
The heroic crane operator said today: ‘It’s not been your average day at work. I saw someone waving his coat. I knew the person was at that level. But the wind was blowing the cage about. I was just waiting for the smoke to clear. I could see I was putting it down in the flames. The banksman (supervisor) told me when he was in.
‘I was no more than 20 metres up in the air and I looked out my left-hand window and saw a guy standing on the corner of the building. ‘I’d only just seen him and someone said ‘can you get the cage on’, so that was it, I got the cage on and got it over to him the best I could. It was quite windy conditions.’
Glen Edwards – the man operating the crane during the rescue effort tat saw a man saved from a burning tower in Reading today
Remarkable footage shows a man stranded at the top of the £750m One Station Hill development in Reading as the building is engulfed in flames
Having to choose his fate in a matter of seconds, the worker initially hesitates as the inferno surrounds him, before climbing aboard the cabin which was lifted into place by a colleague
People have been told to avoid the area, with nearby locals told to close their windows and doors, as smoke can now from villages several miles away
Station Road and Blagrave Street are now closed as police launch a drone to investigate a fire that appears to have spread across the top of a tower building site in the Station Hill development
The Sir John McAlpine construction worker managed to winched the man to safety at top speed as the blaze continued to roar, passing his cargo through the thick black smoke that was spreading throughout the town in what he described as a ‘close call’.
Mr Edwards continued: ‘I would say it was a very close call, if you look at the video at the way the wind was swirling around there. ‘I tried to put the cage down between him and the flames, but I was hampered by the wind swirling around there. ‘But I got the cage down and I managed to get him in there.’
The dramatic three-minute rescue undoubtedly saved the builder’s life as all around him blazing cladding caused massive clouds of toxic smoke.
Incredibly despite the severity of the fire, only two people needed to go to hospital with smoke inhalation, including the workman saved by Glen. The 16-storey office block, situated opposite Reading rail and Crossrail station, is part of a development that endured another fire just five months ago. The fire is contained but the cause is not yet known.
A carpenter, who was working nearby, said onlookers below applauded as the man clambered into a metal basket attached to the crane and was carried away from the flames.
The witness, who did not want to be named, said: ‘I was in the next door building, there was a guy standing up there (on top of the building), luckily the crane came in just in time.
‘He was coughing [when he came down], from the smoke, you know what I mean.
‘When he got inside the crane and the crane put him down everyone was clapping.
‘The crane driver was very fast. He was still in the crane while the building was on fire.’
A worker from the construction site who asked not to be named, added: ‘I was in the office when the fire alarm went off and we rushed outside.
‘One guy was trapped on the corner of the building and they brought the crane jib around and lowered the crane with a cage and yeah, hoisted him off the top.’
Another worker at the development said: ‘There were flames everywhere. Fortunately the wind was blowing in the opposite direction so the rescued builder was not badly affected by breathing in the smoke.
‘There was a big round of applause from all the guys who were standing in the street, as he was lowered to the ground.
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue were called to the fire on Station Hill at 11.38am this morning. More than 50 firefighters were at the scene of the high-rise building under construction alongside an Aerial Ladder Platform and Incident Command Unit.
Firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus used two main jets to extinguish the fire.
The fire service say two people were recused by the crane and taken into the care of South Central Ambulance Service.
Christopher Hutton, of the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: ‘Just after half 11 today, we received reports of a fire on Station Hill in Reading.
‘At its peak, over 50 firefighters were on the scene from fire stations across the county.
‘Crews found the fire in a high-rise building under construction.
‘Firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus used two main jets to extinguish the fire.
‘We understand that two people were rescued by a crane and have been placed in the care of South Central Ambulance Service and fortunately, all other people were accounted for.
‘The fire has now been extinguished and we have scaled back our resources at the incident, but a number of crews will remain at the scene at this time to dampen down.’
A spokesperson for the ambulance service said the two people are receiving treatment for smoke inhalation.
The spokesperson said: ‘I can confirm we’ve taken two people to the Royal Berkshire Hospital for further assessment and treatment for smoke inhalation, neither of whom were severe cases.
‘We are now on stand-by supporting the fire service (which is a standard operational procedure when they are working at height and at scale).
‘We have our hazardous area response team, an ambulance, the Thames Valley Air Ambulance critical care car, an operational commander, a tactical adviser and a tactical commander at the scene.’
A Thames Valley Police officer said he was the first to call the fire in, as he watched the man get rescued.
The policeman said: ‘I was the first person to call it in, and i saw a man getting rescued. He’s in an ambulance in hospital now, he lobbed himself in the cage, I ran in the building and shouted is anyone in there. I don’t think there was loads of people only a couple of people working on the roof.’
The cause of the fire is not been confirmed, but a local builder believes it was tarmac on the roof that caught fire.
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue were called to fire on Station Hill in Reading at 11.38am this morning,
A spokesperson for South Central Ambulance Service said two people had been taken to hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation
Station Road and Blagrave Street are now closed as police launch a drone to investigate a fire that appears to have spread across the top of a tower building site in the Station Hill development.
The 16-storey office block is part of a development that endured another fire just five months ago
Peter, who runs a local café, said the fire was ‘really quite dramatic – thick billowing smoke and lots of flames’
Thames Valley Police have closed Friar Street, but Great Western Railway say the fire has not affected train services yet
The black smoke could be seen from several miles away in nearby villages
He said: ‘I was the first person to call it in, and I saw a man getting rescued. He’s in an ambulance in hospital now, he lobbed himself in the cage, I ran in the building and shouted is anyone in there. I don’t think there was loads of people only a couple of people working on the roof.’
People have been told to avoid the area, with nearby locals told to close their windows and doors, as smoke can now from villages several miles away.
Steve Reynolds, who works in a building 100 yards opposite where the fire started, told the BBC: ‘I saw a black cloud go up and a ball of flames happen and all of a sudden I could see there was a guy trapped on the corner.
‘There were bits of glass falling off the side of the building and he was completely exposed up there.
‘Then all of a sudden a crane came out from the left with a carriage on it and they lowered it down… and he gets in and they pull him away.
‘There was a massive cheer from all the workers on the ground. It was pretty terrifying.’
Peter, who runs a local café, said the fire was ‘really quite dramatic – thick billowing smoke and lots of flames’.
‘We immediately got rid of all our customers – that’s all we could think to do,’ he said.
Aaron, who was a bystander, said: ‘It’s just the most devastating thing I’ve seen in my life.’
Luke Edgecombe, who works in a building 500 meters from the site of the fire, told the about the ‘mass hysteria’ on the streets when the flames became visible.
The 29-year-old said: ‘There were large amounts of crowds. There was quite a lot of hysteria. I guess people were interested. It’s not something you often see, a large building on fire.
‘There were lots of people with their phones out and lots of rumours probably being spoken about how it started. It’s something that’s completely abnormal and shouldn’t be happening.’
Office workers at Thames Tower, which is very close to the on fire construction site, saw the flames first hand and were asked to evacuated around 11.40am
The Station Hill complex was set to provide up to 1,300 homes
Redwood Consulting, speaking on behalf of the Station Hill developers, said it activated its fire emergency plans immediately
The cause of the fire is not been confirmed, but a local builder believes it was tarmac pitchman on the roof that caught fire.
The One Station Hill Complex was a landmark building that was due to open next year containing 15 floors of workspace and a fitness club
This is not the first the landmark building has caught fire, as it was the centre of a blaze in July last year
More than 50 firefighters at the scene of the high-rise building under construction alongside an Aerial Ladder Platform and Incident Command Unit
Firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus are using two main jets to fight the fire
A Thames Valley Police officer said he was the first to call the fire in, as he watched the man get rescued
Station Road and Blagrave Street are now closed as police launch a drone to investigate a fire that appears to have spread across the top of a tower building site in the Station Hill development.
Office workers at Thames Tower, which is very close to the on fire construction site, saw the flames first hand and were asked to evacuated around 11.40am.
Thames Valley Police have closed Friar Street, but Great Western Railway say the fire has not affected train services yet.
Due to an incident, Thames Travel say the 143 and X40 services are unable to serve Friar Street, Station Road and Forbury Road.
The One Station Hill Complex was a landmark building that was due to open next year containing 15 floors of workspace and a fitness club.
This is not the first the landmark building has caught fire, as it was the centre of a blaze in July this year.
On that day, large plums of smoke were also seen flying into the air. All people at the site were accounted for and nobody was thought to have been harmed
Redwood Consulting, on behalf of Station Hill, said: ‘We activated our fire emergency plans immediately, the emergency services were notified and are currently on site.
‘The safety of those on site and the wider public is always our first priority, and the site has been evacuated as a result. As soon as we have more information we will provide an update.’