Construction Crane Incident Leaves One in Critical Condition

On January 31, 2026, at approximately 9:30am Madison Fire was dispatched to the corner of State Street and Fairchild Street for a construction crane that dropped a 20,000-30,000-pound beam at the construction site.  The beam fell approximately 50-feet through sublevels of construction. One construction employee fell with the beam. Another employee was stranded with the crane above the site.

Madison Fire Engine 1, Ladder 1 and the Heavy Urban Rescue Team (HURT) responded to the scene to rescue the employees.  Utilizing the on-site construction equipment and operators, Engine 1 and Ladder 1 assessed and rescued the injured employee who fell. The injured individual was transported to a local hospital by Medic 4 and is in critical condition. Members from HURT conducted a basket rescue to recover the uninjured, stranded employee.  No others were injured as a result of this incident.

The Madison Fire HURT was established in 2007 and responds to any emergency requiring technical rescue. The team is comprised of 57 trained members. Training for this highly skilled team is conducted weekly.