A man who helped rescue a crane operator from the end of a construction crane as a fire raged below described the jaw-dropping scene today.

The crane operator had inched himself as far away as possible from the 1,000-degree blaze Tuesday in Kingston, Ontario, but remained trapped on the edge of the boom, clinging for his life.

An explosion was believed to have started the fire at a building under construction.

After more than an hour, Cory Cisyk arrived in a military helicopter but the mission was far from easy. He had to be lowered to pluck the operator from the crane.

(Photo Credit: Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press/AP Photo)

"It was a little, tiny, 2-foot platform so we were trying to get him to stand up," Cisyk told CTV News. "Once I am on the hook, my life is in the hands of the pilot and flight engineer. They have to be on their game."

The operator suffered "minor injuries," according to CTV News.