Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company members put their training to the test Sunday night Feb. 15, when Squad 322, Tower 323, and Medic 325 responded just before 6 p.m. as part of an inland water rescue assignment to the Greenspring Quarry in Brooklandville, off Greenspring Avenue.
Also on the assignment was equipment from Baltimore County Fire Department stations 14 (Brooklandville) and 17 (Texas), the department's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team. the victim was on a cliff about 40 feet below street level, in a precarious position above the quarry water.
Several Baltimore County police officers were on the cliff with the man. It was later learned that two officers pulled the man, who was in the water up to his neck, from the quarry before firefighters arrived.
PVFC Captain Glenn Resnick assumed command of the rescue sector and directed firefighters to set up a Z-rig system. Crews from PVFC, Baltimore County FD Station 14 and the Baltimore County FD USAR team worked together to set up the pulley and rope system to lower a Stokes basket enabling fellow firefighters to place the victim inside and raise him to street level.
Crews used Brush 17, which was positioned in a gully according to pre-planning for an incident of this type at the quarry, as an anchor point for the rope operation. Firefighters set up multiple portable lights around the scene and a Baltimore County Police helicopter hovered overhead to provide additional scene lighting.
The extrication was complete at 6:43 p.m. Baltimore County FD medic crews transported the man, suffering hypothermic injuries, to Sinai Hospital. The incident occurred in the Quarry Lake at Greenspring community at Greenspring Avenue and Stone Cliff Drive. "The rescue couldn't have gone any better," said Capt. Resnick. "It was an excellent team effort."
