A crane that was in place to begin removing blocks of granite from the side of Christ Episcopal Church on Monday collapsed across the roof of the 1868 building when a huge pin supporting the crane dislodged.
The three workers nearest to the crane were not injured, said the Rev. Paul Habersang, priest of the church on State Street in downtown Montpelier.
One of the workers was actually on the roof and had to leap to get on to a scaffolding landing where two other workers were, a firefighter at the scene said.
The accident happened shortly after 7 a.m., according to Habersang, who said while the crane’s pressure caused both internal and external damage, including dislodging of roof tiles and plaster on the interior, the fact no one was injured is really all that matters.
“You can’t make this stuff up,” said Habersang, standing on the street with at least a dozen others.
All day, spectators gathered to watch as two other cranes were brought in to support and remove the fallen crane from across the church’s roof.
The truck attached to the crane was also damaged when the heavy arm collapsed.
People brought their children downtown to see the downed crane, where two other cranes joined fire trucks parked along State Street all day, making for a crowd and traffic-stopping spectacle.
The church grounds were marked off with red emergency scene tape warning of the danger.
The granite blocks that were numbered to be put back in the exact order had been quarried from Barre and they were being taken out as part of restoration to that corner of the church, Habersang said.
He said the sanctuary will need to be closed for a time, and until the damage is assessed, he’s not sure how long.
Habersang said the response of contractors who have worked with the church, offering to help out, was heartwarming. He said he approached the owner of Hutch Crane Service to see how he was, and he tried to comfort him because the man felt so badly about the accident.
That no one was hurt when the seven-ton crane suddenly fell to the church’s roof  was “by the grace of God,” in Habersang’s view. He said one of the young men very near where the crane fell was celebrating his second wedding anniversary on Monday, and was so grateful to be going home to his wife.
“They were ashen … they were so white,” Habersang said of the crew.
“There was a mechanical failure with the crane, I don’t know exactly what it is,” Montpelier Fire Chief Robert Gowans said, adding that officials from OSHA, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, were at the scene to investigate what happened.
“There are two other cranes working to get this one crane down. It’s a very delicate operation; the piece that’s laying on the roof is probably 15,000 pounds. It’s a slow process removing it. Everyone was extremely lucky,” Gowans said.