Reach Sims News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Man trapped above smoke and flames. the dramatic attempts to rescue him before it's too late are all caught on camera. >> so i just sit there. waited it out and prayed to my creator that that was it. i thought that was my end. >> april 12, 1999. a fire breaks out at a construction site in atlanta georgia. at first, the blaze does not appear to be a threat to crane operator iver sims. so he make a decision to stay put 220 feet above the ground. >> the smoke started coming out of the top of the building and i sit there because i thought maybe i would be able to help the guys, assist them to find...

I just sit there and pray. which is nice to have time to ask god forgiveness before -- ask him to forgive you for anything that you have done to anybody else. >> but first responders aren't about to give up. helicopters attempt to approach the top of the crane. >> we're going to make a couple of passes just to see what we can do with it. >> the heat and 40-mile-an-hour wind prove to be difficult to overcome. >> we tried to hover up to it but it's hot. we didn't get that close to it. >> firefighters brainstorm ways to reach sims, but many ideas are impractical under these conditions. >> we had ...

Into a broiling often. >> i realized the heat was getting to me and i got out of the cab and on the deck of the crane. the cab of the crane where i was sitting, just a few minutes, it blew up and busted into flames. >> sims paces along the crane looking for any escape from the flames. he takes refuge on the counterweight at the end of the crane's arm. >> the reason i went back on the counterweight, because those blocks are made out of solid concrete. i realized that that was the only thing to absorb that heat. i just sit back there. i didn't feel any heat. >> trapped on the edge, 220 feet abov...

It was a good feeling. >> we enjoyed the ride on the way down and i'll always remember they teach you in school to try and calm people. try to talk to them. i was talking but i don't think he was listening to me because he was the calmest person up there. >> sims and mosley are brought down in a nearby field where medical teams immediately rush to greet them. to assist them. >> it was a good feeling to hit the ground. i would have kissed the ground but i didn't have time. they grabbed me up and threw me on one of the stretchers and hauled me off to the hospital. >> the flames are extinguished ...

Below. but the fire quickly goes from bad to worse. >> so this is probably one of the largest fires atlanta has seen in 25 years. it actually started generating its own wind which is close to firestorm conditions. >> construction crews on the ground have safely evacuated the building. but sims can only look down helplessly upon a sea of flames. his only means of escape is cut off. >> most of the crane is built with steps and how you get up and down every day. the crane was sitting close to the building and there was no way i could go down past the flames and get down those steps. >> and time i...