Toronto emergency crews rescue, arrest another construction crane climber

TORONTO—A woman who climbed into a crane cab near Toronto’s waterfront was apprehended early Aug. 16 after emergency task force workers conducted about an hour of negotiations and helped her descend to the ground.

The incident took place at a condo construction site just west of the downtown core. Firefighters said they received a call about the woman just after 6:30 a.m. but it wasn’t immediately clear how long she had been on the crane.

Police said emergency task force officers climbed up the crane to talk to the woman and were able to help her down.

“They discussed with her what her state of mind was … and if she could comply with their orders to get her down safely,” Toronto fire District Chief William Bygrave told reporters.

The boom of the crane partially hangs over a busy highway that runs through downtown, and Bygrave said the piece of machinery is about 43 metres or 10 storeys high.

Ian Peters with Toronto fire said he was at the base of the crane as the woman climbed down

“There was quite a few people involved in the rescue,” he said. “I would say about 50 people.”

Dozens of police cruisers and emergency task force vehicles were at the scene as morning rush hour traffic piled up on nearby roads.

Toronto police spokeswoman Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu said the roads were closed as a precaution, but have since been reopened.

She said the woman, who wasn’t wearing a shirt when she was found in the crane cab, was taken to hospital to be assessed.

The incident comes after another high-profile crane incident last year.

In April 2017, a 23-year-old woman was stranded for hours after climbing a crane at a downtown construction site. She was rescued by a firefighter who climbed up and rappelled down the towering machinery with her.

Marisa Lazo pleaded guilty to two counts of mischief, but received an absolute discharge in January and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge.