Four Rescued from Six Flags Ride by Eureka, MO, Firefighters
When riders on Sky Screamer at Six Flags St. Louis got stuck following a malfunction Thursday night, Eureka firefighters and others knew what to do.
That's because the staff, fire and rescue personnel and a crane operator had trained for it -- just in case.
Six Flags called firefighters when they failed to manually lower the ride, KSDK reported.
"That crane was here in 19 minutes, which was really pivotal to this rescue, especially with that storm front coming in," Eureka Fire Chief Scott Barthelmass said.
"We sent two rescue technicians up to the top in that crane in that bucket. They made contact with the guests that were up there, explained to them what the process was going to be."
Just in case the crane couldn't reach them, firefighters rigged a rope system. But, each person was placed in a harness, placed in the basket and lowered to the ground -- two by two.
Barthelmass said they actually trained for rescues on this particular ride just last year.
Winds were blowing 15 to 20 m.p.h. and gusting to over 30 mph during the rescue.
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.