BARTOW, Fla. (WSVN) — A Florida homeowner couldn’t believe his eyes when part of a massive crane came crashing down on his house.
The 80-ton crane’s boom snapped, sending a huge chunk of a tree through Scott Fitzwater’s home in Bartow, located east of Tampa, Tuesday morning.
“All of a sudden, we hear a boom,” said Fitzwater.
The impact caused damage to the home’s bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen.
The homeowner said the crane boom came dangerously close to the couch he and his daughters were sitting on at the time.
“It ended up two feet above our heads. I did get hit on my legs and then my hands with debris coming down, because I sheltered my girls to protect them,” said Fitzwater.
A day before the crash, Fitzwater said, he hired a tree service to remove the tree, adding that the tree service contracted the crane company.
After the incident, the homeowner said, he might have to take a break from his work.
“I’ve coached wrestling at Bartow for four years. This will be year number five for me, and I can’t do it, so I already reached out to the high school and the middle school, and I told them, ‘Unfortunately, I can’t do it, with everything going on, six to eight months to rebuild this,'” he said.
Moreover, Fitzwater said, some of his exotic pets died after losing power in the home, and he’s had to sell others.
Now Fitzwater and his family are looking for a temporary place to stay, but he’s still grateful to have survived and hopeful no one else has to go through anything like this.
“Yeah, a lot of people told me that, ‘You have a better chance to win in the lottery than this actually happening,'” he said.
Fitzwater said his insurance should cover the damages. It remains unknown why the crane snapped.
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