| Date/Time of Occurrence: | October 27, 2005 , 6:58 p.m. |
| Nature of Occurrence: | Rescue |
| Location: | 14160 Grove St. |
| City: | Walnut Grove |
| Contact: | Battalion Chief Niko King |
| Phone: | 916-216-0316 |
| Email: | nking@sfd.cityofsacramento.org |
| SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento Fire Department responded as a mutual aid resource to Walnut Grove to assist other area fire agencies in an extremely technical rescue. The incident began with an cell phone call to an emergency dispatch center from an individual who reported that he was dangling from a tension wire that supports a 1,900 foot tower in Walnut Grove. Emergency responders from the Walnut Grove Fire Department, Elk Grove Fire Department, and the Sacramento Fire Department quickly turned a corn field at the base of the radio tower into a brightly lit parking lot of fire and rescue equipment.
Fire Fighter John Clark, a six year veteran of the Sacramento Fire Department, pulled himself up to the victim and was able to successfully lower him to the ground.
The victim, a male in his early 40’s, had apparently jumped off of the top of the tower deploying his parachute in an activity known as “base jumping”. His parachute deployed but came into contact with a guide wire 2 ˝ inches in diameter approximately 200 feet above the ground. Rescue crews spent nearly three hours going over options and plans to get a Fire Fighter safely up to the victim and both of them safely to the ground. After ruling out the use of a helicopter or sending a Fire Fighter up the tower to lower themselves back down the cable to the victim, the crews collectively came up with the idea of having a Fire Fighter go up the cable. Fire Fighter Clark climbed to the top of a 100 foot aerial ladder that was positioned next to the cable. He attached ropes to the cable and to his own harness and stepped off the tip of the ladder. He slowly pulled himself, inch by inch, up the cable that was at a very steep angle. After one hour and thirty two minutes of physically demanding and extremely technical work, Fire Fighter Clark and the fire crews were successful in bringing the victim to the ground. The victim was transported by ground ambulance to a landing zone, then by helicopter to the UC Davis Medical Center for evaluation. Paramedics who first assessed the victim on scene state that he was suffering only minor injuries. |
| Incident Commander: | Chief Vic Savale |
| Public Information Officer: | Battalion Chief Niko King |
| Number of Adults Injured: | 1 |
| Incident Duration: | 5 hour 15 min |
Copyright 2004, Sacramento City Fire Department, all rights reserved.