FOREST CITY, IA---A windmill worker escapes serious injury during a fall inside a Winnebago County wind turbine on Friday afternoon.
The man was performing maintenance inside a turbine on a wind farm owned by NextEra Energy Resources, Southwest of Thompson.
The unidentified worker lost his footing on a ladder and fell about 30 feet.
Assistant Chief Jim Schaumberg of the Forest City Fire Department said the worker's main safety harness failed and his reserve harness caught him before he hit the bottom.
Schaumberg said the man suffered cuts to his head and broke his left arm in the fall.
Rescuers were able to use an elevator in the wind mill to get the guy to the ground and he walked out to a waiting medical helicopter.
Schaumberg said ironically about half the members of his department took a class on wind mill rescue around a month ago; he said they never thought they'd have to use what they learned.
