Honolulu firefighters have rescued a window washer who suffered a medical emergency while rappelling down a high-rise building.

Capt. David Jenkins says a woman on the ground noticed commotion from four window washers dangling at the eighth or ninth floor today. She alerted building security guards, who called 911.

Jenkins says responding firefighters broke through the glass of an eighth-floor window and pulled the man inside.

Honolulu Emergency Medical Services spokeswoman Shayne Enright says the 25-year-old man was taken to a hospital in serious condition. Co-workers told paramedics the man said he was feeling dizzy.

Keith Abe lives in a nearby high-rise and watched the other workers holding the man up. He says firefighters took quick action, cleared the ground below and used an ax to break the glass.