22.10.2026

Big boom rescue

Two people were rescued from the platform of an articulated boom lift yesterday in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

According to information supplied by the Haverhill Fire Department Local 1101, the two occupants of the platform, a man and a woman, had been working on a high rise building in the town at a height of around 24 metres when the boom, a 135ft Genie ZX-135/70 from the United Rentals fleet, experienced a mechanical failure and began to use the emergency lowering system to return to the ground, but this resulted in the platform contacting the building and the lift losing stability and beginning to tip rearwards.

The building was evacuated and traffic diverted while a fire ladder was brought in to bring the two down. Prior to that, the team used cribbing, wheel chocks and a steel support to reduce the risk of further tipping. The entire process went very smoothly, with no injuries reported.
The fire crew then had the job of bringing the lift down, which they achieved within three hours or so after arriving on the scene.

As to exactly what happened, it is hard to be certain, it looks as though at least one of the wheels had not been extended, which should have prevented it from elevating, but they might well have been retracted as part of the recovery process?

One thing is for certain: all credit should go to the fire and rescue team that attended the scene yesterday. It looks as though they did an exemplary job. As to the two people on the platform, it looks as though they had a lucky escape. This could have ended far more negatively.

Picture credits – Haverhill Fire Dept and a local source at the scene