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Worker injured at store site

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

A subcontractor working on a stand-alone JCPenney store under construction in Fayetteville was seriously injured Tuesday when he fell off an eight-foot ladder, landing face first.

Fayetteville police and Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services personnel responded to the accident about 9:30 a.m. and found the subcontractor identified as 33-year-old Brian Meadows suffering from a serious head injury.

He was transported by air ambulance to a local Atlanta hospital. Additional details about his condition were unavailable due to federal patient confidentiality laws.

Meadows of Trane Heating & Air Conditioning was inspecting the heating and air conditioning system at the store at the time of the accident, said Jeanette Jones, an electrician from Little Rock, Ark., who also is working on the project.

Jones said the two did not work for the same company and no one at the construction site Tuesday was sure where Meadows was originally from.

“He was on an eight-foot fiber glass ladder ... and the ladder buckled and fell,” Jones said. “He hit his cheek and his nose and he cut his lip. He hit face first.”

Meadows, who reportedly fell 10 feet, according to Fayetteville Police Detective Steve Crawshaw, was rendered temporarily unconscious.

When he came to, Jones used her first aid training to keep Meadows alert. She said asked him questions like “How old are you?” and “Are you married?”

Meadows is married and has one child, she said. Jones indicated the incident could be classified as a freak accident.

“He was doing everything according to safety standards,” Jones said. “He probably shifted his weight and fell.”

Tuesday’s accident was the second work-related accident at the construction site, Jones indicated. Another man was injured using a scissor lift, but he’s back on the job, she said.

Despite the accident, officials at the construction site say it won’t delay their opening. The store is expected to open Oct. 5.

JCPenney is hiring and taking applications at 240 Banks Crossing, Suite 212. The application site is located right beside El Ranchero Mexican Restaurant.

The store, which is expected to employ between 100 to 120 people, will feature wider aisles, front-end check-out and a full-service salon, just to name a few things.