Businessman seriously hurt in tower fall

The business site in Ongaonga, where a 12-metre, 300kg alloy tower fell and seriously injured a man on Monday. Photo/Paul Taylor

The director of a risk management consultancy business says he is "recovering well" after a 300kg alloy tower fell on him in Central Hawke's Bay.

The Fire & Rescue New Zealand director, 50, is in Hawke's Bay Hospital after he sustained head and spine injuries when a tower struck him on Monday.

Ongaonga Volunteer Fire Brigade acting station officer Guy Beamisch said the man and an employee had been repositioning an alloy tower which stood 12 metres high and weighed about 300kg, when it slipped and fell on him.

The accident happened at the man's workplace, which doubles as his residence, opposite Ongaonga School.

When the Ongaonga Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived, the man's employee had lifted the tower off him and he was conscious and coherent, but in "a fair bit of pain," with a laceration on the back of his head, Mr Beamisch said.

St John territory manager Brendon Hutchison said the victim sustained serious head and spinal injuries.

Mr Beamisch said the Tikokino Fire Brigade also attended the scene of the accident, followed by an ambulance, which transported the man to Ongaonga School, where he was airlifted to Hawke's Bay Hospital by the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter. A hospital spokesperson said the man was in a stable condition yesterday.

He was "recovering well" and wanted to "thank emergency services for their care last night [Monday]," the spokesperson said.

Waipukurau deputy chief fire officer Owen Spotswood said the man's business, Fire & Rescue New Zealand, was a private enterprise, independent from the fire service.

Fire & Rescue New Zealand's website said it offered risk management training and consulting. The website described him as the business's managing director, fire captain, pyrotechnician and academic registrar.