Worker suffers dramatic accident at the Shops at Don Mills

[attach]1954[/attach]A worker at the Shops at Don Mills complex was taken to Sunnybrook Medical Centre this morning after he fell four metres from a hoist and sustained burns to 20 percent of his body in a resultant fire.

Workers were evacuated from the office tower at 1090 Don Mills Rd. and firefighters were called in at 10:15 a.m. They were able to quickly extinguish the flames when they arrived on-scene.

The incident occurred as the worker was using a person-hoist to transport himself and a wheelbarrow from the building’s seven-storey roof to its lower, two-storey roof. The hoist cable became entangled on a 100-pound propane cylinder on the lower roof, causing the hoist to tip and drop the man, who struck the tank with his shoulder as he fell. The impact knocked the tank into the hoist, puncturing the tank and igniting an ambient flame nearby. The resulting fire ignited the man’s clothes and damaged a Royal Bank of Canada sign on the roof.

Contract crews were doing roof replacement work.

“The building was evacuated and remained evacuated until a hazmat team cleared the propane tank and mitigated any problems relating to it,” said Captain David Eckerman of Toronto Fire Services.

Workers on the first floor of the building said they didn’t hear the incident occur. By noon, workers had been allowed back inside. By late afternoon, work had resumed on the roof.

The full extent of the man’s injuries was not known, Eckerman said.

The Ontario Fire Marshal and the Technical Standards and Safety Authority are investigating. The Ontario Ministry of Labour is investigating.