ST PAUL, Minn. — Some dramatic moments early Sunday as a St. Paul Fire and Rescue Team climbed to a man stuck 100 feet up on a cliff and lowered him to safety.
It happened around 1:30 a.m. when St. Paul Fire's Rescue Squad 3 was dispatched near Wabasha Street and Shepard Road after a call reporting a man was on a sheer ledge and could not get down.
"The crews found there was a small piece of wire, small diameter wire, that was stretched from the top of the bluff to the location where he was stranded. Because it was so small and hard to grab onto, he wasn't able to climb back up," said Captain Mike Aspnes, technical rescue coordinator for the Saint Paul Fire Department.
Aspnes was not at the scene but said it was challenging for crews to make sure everything was lined up appropriately.
"Because the bluff face is not particularly straight up and down, it's not very clean, they had to spend a fair amount of time protecting the edges to make sure the rope wasn't cut while they performed the rescue," Aspnes said.
Technical Rescue personnel set up a lowering device and were able to conduct what Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso called a "safe rescue." No one was injured during the rescue.
About 120 firefighters with St. Paul Fire are trained in high-angle rescues.
A video of the operation was posted on the department's Twitter page.
(Note: while the tweet suggests the rescue took place Saturday morning, Mokosso says it was actually Sunday.)
Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul Police spokesperson, said it was an "unsheltered man" who was seeking some place warm. The scene of the rescue is near a Winter Safe Space.
"The biggest dangers that we run into are low oxygen concentrations, carbon monoxide, from fires that are set in that area to keep warm. We've had multiple deaths throughout the years in St. Paul because of carbon monoxide or low oxygen in the air and they're very dangerous. They shouldn't be gone into," Aspnes said.
Three fire apparatus, a district chief, the deputy chief in charge of the shift, the EMS supervisor and an ambulance (20 firefighters) were on scene for just over an hour.
The man was examined by paramedics and then led away by police. It is not clear whether he will face criminal charges.
Mokosso said the area is popular with both urban explorers and the city's homeless population. He adds that the Technical Rescue Team performs 3 or 4 of these operations each year.