Three Killed as 1,500-Foot Transmission Tower Falls

CEDAR HILL, Texas — A 1,500-foot transmission tower collapsed into a mass of twisted metal Saturday, killing three workers on the tower who earlier discussed cutting short their repairs because of windy conditions.

Dallas-Fort Worth television station KXAS--one of the stations that uses the tower--reported that a gust of wind caught a machine used to hoist materials up to the workers. The machine fell, breaking a guy wire and causing the tower to fall.

“When people said, ‘The tower!’ I turned and looked and just saw the motion of the last of the tower disappearing between the tree line,” said police Lt. Jim Zerban.

The red-and-white tower--which once stood 50 feet taller than the Sears Tower in Chicago--snapped nearby power lines as it fell and caused a transformer to explode, starting a small fire that was quickly extinguished.

Harold Nash, chief engineer at KXAS’ sister station, KXTX, and the manager of the tower, said the maintenance workers were preparing to install a new antenna. Less than three hours before the accident, he said, the workers agreed that conditions would not allow them to carry through with removing the old antenna.