Muscatine firefighters’ high-angle rescue training paid off for a man trapped in a chimney.
It happened at MidAmerican Energy’s Louisa Generating Station in Grandview, Iowa. A worker became stuck 230 feet off the ground in an industrial basket inside the 621-foot chimney.
The Muscatine Fire Department’s Hazardous Incident Response Team used skywalks and interior ladders to set up a rigging system over the trapped worker. That took three hours.
Firefighters then lowered one of their own to the worker. It took an additional three hours in high heat and low visibility to lower the worker to the ground. Firefighters say he was dehydrated and exhausted but otherwise okay. One firefighter received a minor injury. This marked the first time the fire department has performed this type of rescue outside of training exercises.
(By Phil Roberts, Davenport)