More than a memory

Reliving heroics of dramatic tower rescue 50 years later.

By SALLY CAPPON
South Coast Beacon

It was a clear fall morning 50 years ago.

Santa Barbara Fire Captain William Skeen was going off duty when the bell rang in fire department headquarters on Chapala Street.

Two men were trapped atop a 180-foot radio tower on the seven-story Balboa Building in the 700 block of State Street.

Thus began a drama that captivated the city, got national headlines and earned a Carnegie Hero Medal for Skeen, the only city fireman ever to receive the coveted honor, said Battalion Chief John Ahlman.

While for years the epic remained famous as the “Balboa Building radio tower episode,’’ today it is virtually unknown to most Santa Barbarans.

But Skeen, seated in his Goleta Valley home in early November, a week short of his 95th birthday, clearly recollected the unfolding drama. When the 8 a.m. call came in, “I walked out of the station and could see the guys on the tower,’’ he said. “I jumped in the back of the squad wagon. We were the first on the scene.’’

Two Los Angeles steeplejacks, Charles England and Harold Wilford, had gone to the top of the KIST tower to paint the lattice-like structure. When England groaned and slumped in his boatswain’s chair, Wilford supported his unconscious partner as he called for help.

When Skeen reached the Balboa building roof, “I put a 100-foot lifeline over my shoulder and the lifebelt around me,’’ he said. “My main concern was getting the guy before he fell.’’

As he edged his 6-foot, 1-inch frame upward, using crossbars for support, Skeen said, “Halfway up, I looked down. I thought, ‘My goodness, I better not look down.’

“On top, I was not nervous. I concentrated on the job, tying (England) up so we could get him down. His partner was holding him to keep him from falling.’’

Another firefighter, Barney Wilson, started up the tower before he was ordered to stop by people on the ground. “They were not sure if the tower could stand all the weight,’’ Skeen said.

Balancing on the metal crossbars, feet entwined in braces, Skeen knotted the lifeline rope around England’s legs and back, anchoring him to the chair. “He was limp,’’ said Skeen, who removed his lifebelt to support the steeplejack.

“They said the tower was swaying two to three feet but I wasn’t aware of it.’’

With a block and tackle, England was gradually lowered to the Balboa roof. Skeen descended alongside England, so the man didn’t become tangled in the triangular shaped structure. “I had to hold him away from the tower as he went down.’’

Meanwhile, 270 feet below, hundreds of Santa Barbarans watched anxiously, many with cameras pointed upward.

As they landed on the roof, “I was relieved that (England) was down safely,’’ Skeen said.

Efforts to resuscitate the steeplejack were futile, recalled master fire mechanic Vince Cavallero, also on the roof during the rescue. England was pronounced dead of a heart attack.

Owen Aylesworth, then a firefighter but later a captain and training officer, had just started up the tower behind Wilson before being ordered down. There was no hesitation to climb the tower, he said. “We were trained in rescue work. We weren’t sure at that moment whether the man was alive or not.’’

“People from the Balboa building told us the structure was designed for no more than two people at the top,’’ said Cavallero, who praised Skeen. “He’s a great guy,’’ he said. “Bill was good with ropes. I’m one of the few that remember that particular incident.’’

On Oct. 30, 1954, 49 years ago, Skeen and Wilford were among 31 people nationwide named to receive the Carnegie Medal for their heroic efforts. Skeen and other medal winners appeared on the Art Linkletter House Party TV show.

Skeen would have more headlines, for rescuing a baby from a burning home, before retiring as an assistant chief in 1968.

Battalion Chief Ahlman remembered the 1953 rescue as a youngster. “For us kids it was a legend,’’ he said.