Man Learns The Hard Way To Look Before You Leap
August 5, 2005
[font=verdana, arial,geneva]KING COUNTY - A man rescued from a steep ravine is lucky to be alive after falling nearly 100 feet early Friday morning.
It all began when King County Sheriff's deputies came upon an unoccupied car that had crashed into a pole on South 288th Street near Auburn just before 4 a.m.
The deputies were unable to find the driver, but at about the same time a homeowner who lived a few blocks away called 911 to say that a strange man had just run through his backyard and jumped a fence.
The homeowner told emergency dispatchers that there was a huge ravine on the other side of the fence.
A helicopter with thermal imaging equipment was brought in and the pilot was able to detect a person at the bottom of the ravine.
The terrain was too steep for deputies to walk down, so a technical rescue team from the Federal Way Fire Department was called to help reach the stuck man.
It took firefighters about two hours to set up the rope system to safely bring him back to the top.
Amazing, the man did not suffer any life-threatening injuries and was taken to an area hospital.
"He's a very lucky young man that someone saw him run through the yard," said King County Sheriff Sergeant Peter Horvath. "The potential was very easily for him to die of exposure... or any injuries he obtained while falling down the embankment."
The man may have been under the influence of alcohol at the time, fire department officials said.
Federal Way Fire Department Battalion Chief Chuck Kahleh said that two days ago his department happened to be training for just this type of rescue.
"It's very technical, you have to take your time," Kahleh said of the complicated operation. "Safety is paramount... as it was, this turned out good." Kahleh said such operations are rare for the department, with only two or three technical rescue calls each year.
http://www.komotv.com/stories/38392.htm
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August 5, 2005
[font=verdana, arial,geneva]KING COUNTY - A man rescued from a steep ravine is lucky to be alive after falling nearly 100 feet early Friday morning.
It all began when King County Sheriff's deputies came upon an unoccupied car that had crashed into a pole on South 288th Street near Auburn just before 4 a.m.
The deputies were unable to find the driver, but at about the same time a homeowner who lived a few blocks away called 911 to say that a strange man had just run through his backyard and jumped a fence.
The homeowner told emergency dispatchers that there was a huge ravine on the other side of the fence.
A helicopter with thermal imaging equipment was brought in and the pilot was able to detect a person at the bottom of the ravine.
The terrain was too steep for deputies to walk down, so a technical rescue team from the Federal Way Fire Department was called to help reach the stuck man.
It took firefighters about two hours to set up the rope system to safely bring him back to the top.
Amazing, the man did not suffer any life-threatening injuries and was taken to an area hospital.
"He's a very lucky young man that someone saw him run through the yard," said King County Sheriff Sergeant Peter Horvath. "The potential was very easily for him to die of exposure... or any injuries he obtained while falling down the embankment."
The man may have been under the influence of alcohol at the time, fire department officials said.
Federal Way Fire Department Battalion Chief Chuck Kahleh said that two days ago his department happened to be training for just this type of rescue.
"It's very technical, you have to take your time," Kahleh said of the complicated operation. "Safety is paramount... as it was, this turned out good." Kahleh said such operations are rare for the department, with only two or three technical rescue calls each year.
http://www.komotv.com/stories/38392.htm
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