Naples Daily News
By Jacob Carpenter
BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. — A 61-year-old man died Monday while working 750 feet from the ground on a radio tower near the Collier-Lee county line.
The worker has been identified as Nick Rouskey of Cape Coral. His body was transported to the medical examiner’s office, where an autopsy will be conducted to determine his cause of death, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office reported Tuesday.
Rescuers spent about five hours Monday night reaching Rouskey and bringing him down from the tower. He was found unresponsive high up a tower located along Old 41 Road, Bonita Springs fire deputy chief Frank Giuliano said.
Rouskey had “a legitimate reason” to be on the tower, Lee County Emergency Management operations chief J.A. Stakenburg said, though no specifics were given about why he was on the tower.
“I don’t know who he was working for, but yeah, he was a contractor or somebody who works for the tower,” Stakenburg said.
Rouskey was the president and director of Broadcast Services Tower & Antenna Inc., according to Florida Department of State records.
The man’s body reached ground at about 9:30 p.m., Giuliano said. Collier County rescuers were dispatched to the scene at about 4:40 p.m., joined by Bonita Springs fire responders, both county sheriff’s offices and other agencies. A group of eight rescuers, including an Urban Search and Rescue team, worked to untangle the man and bring him down.
The cause of death remains under investigation, Giuliano said.
“It seemed to be more of an accident type of injury, but at this time we’re still investigating,” Giuliano said.
Rouskey was alone on the tower, though Giuliano said his grandson was working at the base of the tower. It’s believed the grandson called rescuers, Giuliano said. The pair was doing electrical work on the tower.
The red and white tower is set back behind Channel 30 Drive, along Old 41 Road and about halfway between U.S. 41 and Bonita Beach Road.
Rescuers could be seen from a distance slowly working their way down the tower throughout the evening. Officials cut power on the tower during the rescue mission for safety, Stakenburg said. Airplanes had to be diverted away from the tower because safety lights were shut off.
Collier County sheriff’s officials initially circled the tower by helicopter and took photographs of the victim to assist rescuers.
“They had various experts take a look at it at different points so they could have the right eyes on the problem,” Stakenburg said.
Copyright 2011 Collier County Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved