In Reading, England, a worker at the helm of a construction crane managed to save the life of a man trapped on the roof of a burning high-rise building.

While admitting it "has not been your average day at work," the operator played down the Hollywood-like rescue.

On that blustery day, crane operator Glen Edwards had a metal cage meant for holding people indenting to work on the facades of buildings, and it was with this that he affected the rescue of a man whom he only saw out of the corner of his eye because the stranded fellow was waving his coat about.

The wind was really blowing the cage about, as well as the smoke. The Daily Mail reports that the cladding which covered the Station Hill housing development was filling the air with toxic fumes, which at the moment had been blowing away from the stranded man. If the winds changed, he could have suffered lethal smoke inhalation.

Receiving help on the radio from his supervisor, Edwards skillfully lowered the cage next to the building close enough to allow the man to climb in, which created an eruption of cheers from the crowd below.

"I would say it was a very close call, if you look at the video at the way the wind was swirling around there," Mr. Edwards told the Daily Mail.

"I tried to put the cage down between him and the flames, but I was hampered by the wind swirling around there. But I got the cage down and I managed to get him in there."

WATCH the dramatic 2 minute rescue below…

SHARE This Skin-Of-The-Teeth Rescue Footage With Your Friends…