ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A man died Wednesday afternoon after falling 40 feet while working on a billboard in east Orange County, officials said.
Keith Bramblett, 29, was working along Lake Underhill Road near State Road 408 just before 4 p.m. when he was knocked to the ground, according to Orange County Fire Rescue.
Bramblett was taken to Florida Hospital East and later died from his injuries, officials said. According to his Facebook page, he was a father of two. The page is now full of condolences.
According to officials, as crews were putting up a pole that holds the billboard, the pole shifted, hitting the bucket that was holding Bramblett. A witness said Bramblett was not wearing a harness.
"At this point, you see the basket," said Benjamin Poole, who was working nearby. "He was shaking back and forth violently, and then actually came off the hook of the crane and fell as well and that was a very loud sound."
Poole said he then heard Bramblett scream, describing it as horrific.
"This was a horrible, something is definitely wrong scream," Poole said. "We knew it was something very serious -- just the whole nature of it and how it sounded, especially his scream, which is something I'll never be able to get out of my mind."
The Orange County Sheriff's Office called the fall a freak accident.
The Occupation Safety and Health Administration said Superior Structures, the company for which Bramblett worked, has received violations in 2007, including one involving head protection and one involving the lack of a body restraint during the use of an aerial lift.
OSHA conducted a similar routine inspection in 2010 and the company was cited for the same two issues.
Federal safety inspectors cannot yet say, however, if Wednesday's incident was a result of the same violations.
Local 6 reached out to the owner of Superior Structures Jim Haskins, who said in a statement, "Keith was like a son to me. My heart is broken."
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