A pair of window washers were trapped on their rig more than 30 stories high outside a high-rise in downtown Toronto, for about three hours on a cold and windy Thursday afternoon.

The washers were cleaning the windows of 333 Bay St. when, due to mechanical failure they got trapped on the 33rd floor. The building has 45 floors.

Firefighters came to the rescue.

“A dozen fire crew and eight guys on a ground, and a back up crew,” said Dave Denysek, Toronto Fire Services district chief, explaining how many men it took to bring the two window washers down safely. “It was a fairly big operation.”

The fire fighters tried to self rescue, he said, but were unsuccessful.

After weighing different options, Denysek said they chose to take out the window, one layer at a time, and pulled the men in. The first man was brought in at 1:15 p.m. and the second man was brought in at 1:21 p.m. The entire operation took just under an hour.

“The wind was just a little bit of an issue,” he said.

Around noon the mercury staggered around the -3 degree Celsius mark with wind gusts up to 41 kilometres per hour, making it feel like a very chilly -9 degrees Celsius.

While it is not a regular thing, fire crew prepare for this kind of a rescue, he said.

The “youngish men” as he described them were in good spirits, Denysek said.

EMS examined them, he said but there were no major injuries.

“No injuries,” Denysek said. “Just a little bit cold.”