# Friend killed during demolition



## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

A fellow local contractor who I became business friends with was killed yesterday when he was demoing a church. He was a great and very likeable man. He worked his but off and was very well respected. He has been doing demo and excavating since the 70's and was very good at what he did. Some say he was the king of demo in our area. He just made a stupid mistake and it cost him his life. 

After watching the video, it is easy to say that he should have done this or that, but we get caught up in the moment. Especially when you have half the neighborhood and tv cameras watching you.

He will be sadly missed.

BTW... His dad was killed in '91 when the Raygo roller he was on ran away. He was thrown and ran over. 

http://citizensvoice.com/news/worker-killed-during-demolition-1.1549133#.Ui5Rfbei-Ew.facebook


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## CENTERLINE MV (Jan 9, 2011)

Wow. So sorry for your loss.


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## rselectric1 (Sep 20, 2009)

Sorry to hear rino. That video is painful to watch too.:sad:


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

Sorry to hear about your friend. :sad:


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## TxElectrician (May 21, 2008)

Sorry for the loss of your friend.


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

Sorry to hear about your friend... 

But none for nothing, watching that video, and the way he was doing that, that was inevitable. He should have been on the side or in the back of the building 10 buckets ago... and all he had to do is spit on it and it would go down, instead he kept dinging under it after 85% of the first floor was out and there was nothing left to support 2 stories above it, and he kept digging being in front of it.
With that said, my heart goes out to his family, but that was a senseless loss of life, not to mention he had so much experience as you said it yourself.


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## Chad McDade (Oct 14, 2012)

Sorry about the loss of your friend.


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## superseal (Feb 4, 2009)

Sorry for your loss :sad:

No doubt the technique he used is high risk, but sure is a shame he paid the ultimate price. 

RIP there fella, you remind me of a lot guys I know.


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

Sorry for your loss. Atleast he went out doing what he loved :drink:


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## skillman (Sep 23, 2011)

Sad news for sure .


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## jproffer (Feb 19, 2005)

Sorry for your loss Rino. Condolences to the family and everyone who knew him.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

Best thoughts and regards.


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## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

Sometimes you do something dangerous for so long you're no longer cautious.


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## dkillianjr (Aug 28, 2006)

Sorry for your loss rino. Its sad when you see stories like this, and it makes you realize it only takes one second or one wrong move.


Dave


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## renov8r (Feb 16, 2013)

My condolences dude!

renov8r


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## mudpad (Dec 26, 2008)

Sorry for your loss Rino. Just goes to show you never know.....


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## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

Rip


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## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

Sorry for your loss. Video doesn't appear to work. At least on my phone. Can't say I really want to watch it anyway.


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

Jason, sorry for your loss....and i'm not saying this to be mean....critical...i'm just saying this as an old fart who has made many mistakes and got away with it...you know Jason, you've got enough seat time to know....seeing that video...it was a train wreck waiting to happen. it is my hope, this video will be shown time and time again, as a learning tool to young operators. the camera angle was perfect for an educational tool...alas, a great man lost his life making it.


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

Sorry to hear about your friend.

It is a dangerous profession we work in.


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## Sir Mixalot (Jan 6, 2008)

That's a damn shame. :sad: RIP...


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## hammer7896 (Feb 28, 2010)

Sorry to hear Rino. My condolences to all who knew him.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

Sorry for the loss of your friend Jason. What a terrible tragedy. :sad:

He must not have realized how compromised the structure was, to keep approaching from that direction.

I read a lot of the comments at the end of the article, he was a very well respected man.

Godspeed to you, his family and friends.


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## rselectric1 (Sep 20, 2009)

Morning Wood said:


> Can't say I really want to watch it anyway.


You don't. Nothing gory, but it's all too obvious what is about to happen from the perspective of the camera...even at the beginning of the video.

Rino's friend has once again reminded me to not be so complacent when working in live electrical panels. I work in live panels every day and one misplaced elbow, tool, or finger could end up with any electrician turning into a crispy critter immediately.

Stay safe out there guys. This is an unfortunate reminder of what can happen when we get complacent.


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

rselectric1 said:


> You don't. Nothing gory, but it's all too obvious what is about to happen from the perspective of the camera...even at the beginning of the video.
> 
> Rino's friend has once again reminded me to not be so complacent when working in live electrical panels. I work in live panels every day and one misplaced elbow, tool, or finger could end up with any electrician turning into a crispy critter immediately.
> 
> Stay safe out there guys. This is an unfortunate reminder of what can happen when we get complacent.


You guys are allowed to work on live panels in your crazy state?

Damn shame about the equipment operator, hope at least his death saves more lives in the future.


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## TimelessQuality (Sep 23, 2007)

Sorry for the loss of a friend... Sounds like he was a great guy who touched a lot of hearts.


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

dayexco said:


> Jason, sorry for your loss....and i'm not saying this to be mean....critical...i'm just saying this as an old fart who has made many mistakes and got away with it...you know Jason, you've got enough seat time to know....seeing that video...it was a train wreck waiting to happen. it is my hope, this video will be shown time and time again, as a learning tool to young operators. the camera angle was perfect for an educational tool...alas, a great man lost his life making it.


I know I know...... What makes me mad is that is crane sat right there. Instead of taking the time to fire up the crane, he took the quick way. He definitely knew better. I feel bad for his son. He is 1 yr younger than me and in the business. Hopefully he learns from this and tragedy doesn't strike the family 3 times.

Here is a video of a local landmark that John did just last month. The city gave him 2 months to raze it and clean it up. He did it in 22 days.


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## rselectric1 (Sep 20, 2009)

Inner10 said:


> You guys are allowed to work on live panels in your crazy state?


Digressing immediately, but a) how in the frick can you troubleshoot issues without live circuits? and b) we never pull a meter out and kill the entire house to work on only one area, nor does anyone else around here.

Inner, this may need a new thread so we can volley on this if you are interested. Please don't respond on this one.:thumbsup:

This thread is for condolences for one of our own.


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## Windwash (Dec 23, 2007)

rino1494 said:


> I know I know...... What makes me mad is that is crane sat right there. Instead of taking the time to fire up the crane, he took the quick way. He definitely knew better. I feel bad for his son. He is 1 yr younger than me and in the business. Hopefully he learns from this and tragedy doesn't strike the family 3 times.
> 
> Here is a video of a local landmark that John did just last month. The city gave him 2 months to raze it and clean it up. He did it in 22 days.


That video looks kinda dicey to me as well.


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## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

Hard to watch... so sorry for your loss... prayers from this end for you and his family...


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

Damn, Im sorry to hear that.


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## Stunt Carpenter (Dec 31, 2011)

Sorry to hear that. Makes you rethink some of the risks we take


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## Dirtywhiteboy (Oct 15, 2010)

So sorry for your loss. Prayers to him and his family.

He went out with his boot on:thumbsup: RIP pops............


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

So sorry for your loss. From the comments in the article, he sounds like one of a kind. I have no doubt he will be missed by the community. A sad day for sure.

We've all lost friends in this business, or have heard the stories. It is a dangerous business we are in. We also all do some things that we know are a bit sketchy. Most of the time we get by with it, some times we don't. I know I will be thinking about my work habits tonight.


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## peteo (Jan 8, 2011)

Sorry for your loss Rino. Like Gene said, hopefully people out there learn from this and it'll save someone else's life.


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## ESSaustin (Mar 27, 2010)

Damn that's hard to watch. RIP.


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## zigo22 (Nov 7, 2013)

Metro M & L said:


> Sometimes you do something dangerous for so long you're no longer cautious.


I was lucky enough when i was a young guy in the laborer's union, an older wise foreman from the company i was working for, gave me some good advice that i never forgot,"treat every piece of machinary on the job or your operating Like it's out to get you" and "if see a situation that could happen treated like its going to happen" i don't know how many times that saved me,Best construction advice i ever recieved.


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## Rio (Oct 13, 2009)

God Bless him and may he Rest In Peace but man it did look sketchy and after looking at the second one I couldn't help but think there must be a safer way. 

Reminds me of time when we were down in Mexico after a big storm and a landslide had blocked part of the road. There was some dude in a giant skip loader coming up to a huge round boulder, 3-5 times larger than the loader; The operator was trying to lift the boulder a little to get it to roll and then backing up really 'fast'. We watched for a minute then one of us said 'let's get out of here before we see him get pancaked by the boulder rolling over him'.


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## EricKay84 (Nov 21, 2013)

So sad,, my benevolence to you and his family, eric


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

rino1494 said:


> After watching the video, it is easy to say that he should have done this or that, but we get caught up in the moment. Especially when you have half the neighborhood and tv cameras watching you.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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