Man Gets Stuck in Illinois Gas Station Sign for Hours

An Illinois maintenance worker is safely back on the ground after spending more than six hours trapped nearly 130 feet in the air inside a gas station sign.

It happened Tuesday along Interstate 55 near Wilmington, where maintenance worker AJ Gow was performing repairs on one of the towering enclosed signs. According to the Wilmington Fire District, Gow's telescopic boom lift malfunctioned, leaving him stranded high above the ground.

Firefighters were called to the scene just before 2pm, but the rescue wasn't a simple as bringing in a ladder truck. The sign itself had no built-in stairs or ladder, and the Wilmington Fire District's tallest ladder only extended about 100 feet.

That left Gow roughly 30 feet beyond their reach.

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With no way to safely access him, crews had to think of another game plan. They tracked down a larger boom lift from the Joliet area, about 20 miles away. The equipment was escorted to the scene by Illinois State Police to speed up the rescue.

Once the new lift arrived, firefighters were finally able to reach Gow and bring him safely back to the ground. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported.

It's the kind of rescue you don't hear about every day, and it highlights just how challenging some maintenance jobs can be. Something as routine as repairing a sign quickly turned into an hours-long emergency simply because the equipment failed.

I did reach out to AJ Gow for comment about what those six hours were like and how he's doing after the ordeal, but I haven't heard back yet. If he responds, I will be sure to update the story with his perspective!