The lift at the right is the one that the trapped men were working on. To the left is an aerial ladder from a fire department vehicle. Rescue personnel also were on the tower itself at this point. Safety lines that they attached from the trapped men to the tower can also be seen.er
Bristol Fire Department personnel were on the scene of a rescue of cell tower workers for a total of about five and a half hours, Chief Peter Parker reported to the Village Board Monday.
The departments responded to the call at a little after 8 p.m. The men were rescued at about 10:40 p.m. Parker left the scene at 1:30 a.m.
Parker gave a brief report on the incident during his regular monthly report to the board.
Rescuing someone from 110 feet in air is an uncommon task for a fire department, Parker said.
“That’s a once in a career event,” Parker said.
Since such a rescue is so rare, departments group together to create teams that train for specific situations. Typically each department trains only a few members. Therefore, when such a team is activated, it brings a lot of fire department vehicles to a scene, Parker said. Twelve departments responded last week.
Speaking of the Bristol department, Parker said:
It went very well. I think some of that had to do with the Bristol Fire Department and all of the training we do. I think you can be very proud of how the department handled it.”
And the impact of the experience is already having an impact in the village. Another matter on Monday’s agenda was the erecting of an antenna for supporting wireless data transmissions. Discussion about how the grounds around such towers could better support lifts like the one the workers used last week ensued.
