Cell Tower News: First tower death of 2016

by Jarad Matula February 19, 2016

written by Jarad Matula February 19, 2016

Tower tech falls to his death in Iowa

Not even a full week after a safety workshop in the nation’s capitol that stressed the reduction in loss of life to tower climbers, the tower industry has its first tragic accident. It has been confirmed that 28-year old tower technician Stefan Watermann was working on a tower for Tri-State Tower of Marion, Iowa, when he fell to his death.

Tri-State Tower, a regional tower company, has been around since 1991 and according to the safety and training section of its website, the company has a 6,000 sq. ft. indoor training facility with three towers for hands-on training. The company also requires an extensive amount of certifications for its climbers. It’s important to keep this information in mind, lest you think this is another case of a subcontractor company that seemingly does not stress the importance of safety for its climbers.

Further details related to the incident are unavailable at this time, but we will provide more information as it is released. As always, our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and families.

The last death the tower industry suffered was back in October, when industry legend Ernie Jones was killed in Oklahoma due to an elevator accident.