SAN ANTONIO -- A window washer is back on solid ground after a high-rise rescue operation Tuesday afternoon.

The unidentified man was washing windows at the Bank of America in The Colonnade near Interstate 10 and Wurzbach Road when he lost his footing from about 10 stories up, firefighters said.

Hundreds of people witnessed the rescue, and one witness said the man never panicked, even lighting and smoked a cigarette as he hung freely.

Rescue crews initially used a 100-foot aerial ladder to try and rescue the man, but that effort fell short by about two stories, forcing them to try a roof rescue, the fire chief said.

"What they did was they ascertained they could get him down by using his ropes," Charles Hood said. "We had to make sure his rope was stable enough to get him off and it was in this situation."

Firefighters estimated the man fell about 20 feet before stopping himself and they said they didn't know how long he was trapped or what caused him to get stuck.

The man was rescued without injuries, firefighters said.