On Monday, December 1, at approximately 10:30 a.m., a tower technician fell from a cell tower and later succumbed to his injuries, according to the Douglas County, Wisconsin Sheriff’s Office in a brief statement. Sheriff Matt Izzard said his agency received a report that a male worker had fallen roughly 100 feet from a structure located off Industrial Park Road …
Texas tower technician’s death leads to OSHA citation and reduced penalty of $4,500 to RB Telecom Services
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a “serious” violation and settlement fine of $4,500 to RB Telecom Services, LLC, following the fatal fall of a tower technician working on a T-Mobile build at an American Tower site in Cotton Valley, Louisiana. The incident occurred on February 17, 2025, when a 27-year-old Texas tower technician fell from a platform of …
Tower technician fatally injured after fall from a 125-foot structure in Marion, Iowa
At approximately 12:30 p.m. on Friday, October 10, the Marion, Iowa, Fire Department was dispatched to a reported tower accident at 3602 N. 10th Street in Marion, where an individual had fallen from a communications tower and was found unconscious and bleeding. Wireless Estimator was able to identify today that the deceased was tower tech Dane Eugene Picknell, age 38, of Cambridge, …
Services set for remembering Toby Cole: Tower tech, family man, and a proud Texan
Services have been announced for Toby Cole, 62, of Harlingen, TX, who passed away September 12 after he fell from a tower he was servicing in Little Rock, AR. Born on July 12, 1963, he is preceded in death by his parents, father Eusebio (“Alex”) and mother Margarita A. Alejandro, and paternal and maternal grandparents. Toby was patriotic; he loved sporting …
Texas tower tech dies after fall at Little Rock antenna farm; sheriff identifies victim as Toby Cole
A Texas man died Friday after falling from a tower along Two Towers Road west of Little Rock, AR, an area known for its cluster of broadcast and communications structures on Shinall Mountain. The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched at about 2:09 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, to 19008 Two Towers Road. The office later identified …
Calvin Sellars, 46, killed in tower fall in Trinity County, Texas; Trace Wireless named in OSHA probe
According to the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office, a tower technician died on July 14, 2025, when he fell from an internet tower at the Whispering Pines golf course near Sebastopol, Texas. In a statement, Sheriff Woody Wallace said that Calvin Wayne Sellars, 46, was working on the tower when he fell to the ground from approximately 50 feet up. Wallace …
Canada mourns loss of tower tech in New Brunswick—but remains a global leader in elevated work safety
Canada’s telecom industry is mourning the loss of a 25-year-old tower technician who tragically died while working on a cellular tower in Riverview, New Brunswick, on Monday. Despite the heartbreaking incident, safety records show that Canada remains one of the safest countries in the world for elevated workers in the wireless infrastructure sector. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, …
Services set for Texas tower tech James Belcher as OSHA continues its investigation
Funeral services have been announced for James Robert Belcher of Magnolia, Texas, who passed away on November 4, 2024, after a work site incident in Grovetown, Texas. Belcher, 38, was a tower technician supervisor employed by MasTec Network Solutions. According to Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace, his office received a call for a welfare check on November 5 when Belcher …
Industry questions why a co-worker wasn’t on site when a MasTec tech died after falling from a 500-foot tower
UPDATE: November 11, 2024 – Services have been set for James Belecher, the 38-year-old tower technician supervisor who died on a Crown Castle site while working for MasTec Network Solutions. A tower technician is dead today after having fallen from a guyed tower, according to Trinity County Texas Sheriff Woody Wallace. According to a press statement, the Trinity County Sheriff’s …
Tower Family Foundation: A decade of delivering financial support to affected industry workers and their families
The Tower Family Foundation officially celebrates its 10-year anniversary today as a 501c-3 non-profit organization supporting the industry’s workforce and their families. The Foundation officially launched during a reception and press conference that was held on Wednesday, September 10, 2014, at CTIA’s “Super Mobility Week” in Las Vegas, Nevada. The impetus behind the Tower Family Foundation occurred when representatives of …
Louisiana tower tech gets up to 20 years for killing a crew leader at a Nebraska work site shooting
David Phillips Jr., a 22-year-old tower technician from Kenner, Louisiana, was sentenced Monday by Nebraska Judge Bryan Meismer in Cedar County District Court to two to 20 years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter of his coworker, crew leader Israel Matos-Colon, of Puerto Rico, on March 1, 2023. With the days already credited to his sentence, he will be eligible …
Florida contractor’s owner succumbs from a 200-foot fall off a Crown Castle cell tower in North Carolina
A 52-year-old owner of a Kissimmee, Florida, contracting company that specialized in structural reinforcements and welding passed away on Monday when he fell from a Crown Castle tower in Shelby, North Carolina. Wireless Estimator has identified the deceased as Jose Ramiro Covarrubias. He fell from a 300-foot self-supporting tower around noon. The circumstances leading to his fall are still under …
New Board members will help shape the future for the Tower Family Foundation’s worker support initiatives
“As an Executive Committee, we are excited to add the visionary leadership and philanthropic spirit of Ron, Eric, Jake, and Michael to the Tower Family Foundation’s Board of Directors,” said President Jim Tracy. The Tower Family Foundation announced the newest appointments to the non-profit organization’s leadership team. Ron Bizick, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vertical Bridge; Eric Dudek, …
Ohio tower technician succumbs from injuries following a 250-foot fall during an AT&T installation
Services have been announced for Darren Bishop, 28, of Proctorville, OH, who passed away on Monday, September 25, 2023, after falling approximately 250 feet off a 300-foot guyed tower in Huntsburg Township, OH. According to individuals knowledgeable of the incident, Bishop, employed by Overland Contracting, had been working on an AT&T overlay project managed by Black & Veatch when he …
Sadly, the first fatal fall in 2023 took the life of a 33-year-old tower technician in Kansas
Burial services were held today in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, for 33-year-old tower technician Frankie Rivera-Rivera who succumbed from his injuries after falling from a 350-foot tower in Andover, Kansas, on May 9. According to individuals knowledgeable of the incident, Rivera and a co-worker were reportedly performing maintenance services for AT&T on a tower off Zenith Rd., owned by Harmoni …
CWA’s questionable climber injury and death rate data from their survey get a fact checking F from experts
The Communications Workers of America’s (CWA) Tower Climbers Union published the results of a survey designed by tower technicians Thursday with critical findings showing that their members’ safety is being compromised. The press release announcing the study said more than 65% of technicians have been on a job site where someone has been injured and 4% where someone has been killed, a horrific life-shattering …
Until there’s a consensus standard, industry experts provide initial hoisting grip guidance following fatality
When a 32-year-old tower technician passed away on December 15, 2022, in Weatherford, TX, while engaged in an installation project for Verizon, Wireless Estimator identified shortly after that that a secured cable grip failure might have caused the death. Huber+Suhner provided the hybrid cable and factory-installed hoisting grip, which was later identified as a FIOMA grip. OSHA investigated the accident and has not …
Alabama state agency is saddened by a tower tech’s death, but it appears that they caused it
Some of the Alabama Forestry Commission’s (AFC) key roles are to protect wildlife, such as inventorying gopher tortoise burrows to improve their habitat. However, its overriding mission is to protect forests from harm. Unfortunately, the state agency failed miserably to protect a Deatsville AFC communications technician last year. As a result, Brett Savage died when a guyed tower that was …
Eastman, Hester and Pleibel’s compassion and industry insight will help guide the Tower Family Foundation
The Tower Family Foundation announced today three leadership appointments to serve the non-profit organization. Jon Eastman, President of VIKOR, Dr. Bridgette Hester, Adjunct Professor and Researcher, and Chris Pleibel, Vice President at PerfectVision Manufacturing, have been appointed to serve on the Tower Family Foundation Advisory Committee. In their roles as members of the committee, Eastman, Hester, and Pleibel will be …
OSHA, media and the CWA routinely and inaccurately portray the wireless industry as the ‘most dangerous’
Commentary — In 2006, after exhaustive research, Wireless Estimator identified cell tower climbers had the most dangerous job in America, exposing a death rate per 100,000 workers of 115.2 based upon approximately 8,700 workers within the industry. The data was obtained, in part, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) lagging 2004 data, based upon ten fatalities, later revised to …
