Man Falls To Death From 603-Foot Tower

PORTLAND

A worker on a 603-foot radio tower fell to his death yesterday despite a co-worker's desperate effort to save his life.

Curtis M. Irwin, 22, an employee of Clackamas Communications Inc. of Milwaukie, died in the accident on the KGON tower. The tower is just two feet shorter than the Space Needle.

A co-worker, who was not identified, told authorities he was struck by a shower of nuts and bolts and looked up to see Irwin plunging toward him down the 6-foot-wide shaft housing transmission cables in the center of the tower.

The co-worker grabbed Irwin by a safety harness as he fell, said a Portland fire spokesman.

The co-worker said Irwin was bleeding from a head wound suffered during his fall. Unconscious, Irwin was too great a burden for the man.

He clung to both the ladder and Irwin, 375 feet up, for nearly a minute, struggling for a way to secure his companion. But finally he couldn't hang on any longer, and Irwin slipped from his grasp.