Firefighters responded to help dozens of visitors on the destroyer USS Laffey after a gangway collapsed, leaving them stranded in Mount Pleasant.
Just before 3 p.m., Mount Pleasant firefighters were summoned to Patroits Point Naval & Maritime Museum where the gangway collapsed into the water, leaving close to 30 people on the ship.
"Crews were requested to assist with safely removing them from the ship," Mount Pleasant Fire Department posted in a statement. "Our ladder truck was used to bring the majority of the personnel down, and one individual was removed using a rescue harness."
Four fire companies responded to the scene, the department stated.
Peter Matthews is the conference director and editor-in-chief of Firehouse. He has worked at Firehouse since 1999, serving in various roles on both Firehouse Magazine and Firehouse.com staffs. He completed an internship with the Rochester, NY, Fire Department and served with fire departments in Rush, NY, and Laurel, MD, and was a lieutenant with the Glenwood Fire Company in Glenwood Landing, NY. Matthews served as photographer for the St. Paul, MN, Fire Department and currently is a photographer for the Fort Worth, TX, Fire Department.
