Smokestack collapse crushes excavator cab, somehow doesn’t kill operator

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I was going to say "hold my beer and watch this," but there's no suggestion that the excavator operator was impaired. On the other hand, he might want to get some refresher training. And expect a visit from the local OSHA safety inspector.

Smokestack collapse crushes excavator cab, somehow doesn’t kill operator

Wayne Grayson | November 26, 2015

An excavator operator in Alabama is lucky to be alive after the demolition of a smokestack at a historic mill went wrong earlier this week. ... According to a report from WIAT TV, demolition contractor Tim Phifer and his crew set off two explosive charges within the smokestack Tuesday, located at Avondale Mills in Pell City, but the tower just wouldn’t fall. Al.com reports {the smokestack} could be more than a century old.

When the charges didn’t bring the smokestack down, Phifer moved in with his excavator to dig away at the base. ... As you can see in the drone footage below, as Phifer digs, the smokestack does indeed begin to fall apart—just not in the direction he was hoping. As the base crumbles away, the entire structure tips over directly on top of the excavator. Phifer told al.com that the 158-foot stack was built with about 2.6 million pounds of material.

As the structure falls, you can see Phifer swing the machine’s boom away in order to move the cab as far away from impact as possible. And the maneuver might have saved his life. ... The smokestack scores a direct hit on the machine and despite half of the cab caving in and being filled with bricks, Phifer walked away.

I can't link to the video at the website. Here's the same thing, from SkyBama.com:

Pell City implodes historic Avondale Mills smokestack

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. Happy news.

[Photographer]

2. I have passed by that smokestack a few times.

Very lucky operator.