Firefighters and technical rescue crews teamed up to extricate a driver from the cab of his rig dangling from an icy Mason County overpass.
The uninjured driver waited for five hours before he could be hoisted to safety.
“We tried to use a ladder truck to try and get to him that way. We tried to do it from the other lane and we tried to do it from below but there was no way of getting it there," Point Pleasant Fire Department Chief Jeremy Bryant told MetroNews.
Bryant said the rig's full load of bricks -- about 40,000 pounds -- kept the cab dangling about 90 feet above the road below.
Rescue Technicians from several departments implemented three rope systems using two heavy wreckers—one as an anchor and one to secure the cab—as well as Winfield VFD’s Tower Ladder, according to Teays Valley Fire Department, one of several involved in the challenging operation.
A crew member was lowered to access the victim.
“In the 35 years I’ve been doing this that’s was probably one of the most technical and difficult rescues we’ve been involved in. You don’t see that every day of a tractor being basically suspended in the air.”
About the Author
Susan Nicol
News Editor
Susan Nicol is the news editor for Firehouse.com. She is a life member and active with the Brunswick Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Company, Oxford Fire Company and Brunswick Vol. Fire Co. Susie has been an EMT in Maryland since 1976. Susie is vice-president of the Frederick County Fire/Rescue Museum. She is on the executive committee of Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association. She also is part of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) Region II EMS Council. Susie is a board member of the American Trauma Society, Maryland Division. Prior to joining the Firehouse team, she was a staff writer for The Frederick News-Post, covering fire, law enforcement, court and legislative issues.