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Permalink Reply by Jason Brooks on September 12, 2008 at 4:10pm

Get my tech rescue teams rolling as soon as I have verified information of what is scene. Even if this is by PD on scene first. On arrival secure the trailer, if that's all you can get to, to the engine for an extra counter weight. Get on the PA and tell the occupants to stay still and remain calm. Make sure the road is shut down. Keep your own "Heroes" from doing something stupid. My guys would probably rappel down to the back bumper and secure a rope to the axle if possible back to the engine until more resources arrived on scene.


Good call.

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Permalink Reply by Capt.Alex Arnold on September 12, 2008 at 4:18pm

oh WOW and HOLY SH*! would be the first natural thought to come to mind. A split second after that I would put on my handy-dandy Super Firefighter shirt and go to work. I would probably start out by hollering down to the vics to PLEASE remain calm and has steady as you can. Next I would be getiing every bit of rope,chain, and the kitchen sink tied off around that back driver side tire/axel. Then I would secure them to two of the biggest pieces of apparautus on scene. That looks to be a 3/4 ton Chevy so it would take a bit of line and/or chain to secure it. Luckily in our district we have a heavy rescue that is designed for a situation like this (luckily have not had to yet!) Then I would get a few lines around that boat trailer for the time being to help secure it from shifting. Once I have some lines on the axel I would get the high-angle team together and send them over to get more lines on the truck. Then I would begin to get lines down and what ever was needed to get the vics safely back on level ground. It would be a high stress call, but with the right gear and personnel a relatively easy one. How far down to the bottom is probably the only part of the equation to the puzzle that I would have to ask. Where was this and how did they handle it?

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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on September 12, 2008 at 5:02pm

Step 1. Get an anchor on the truck. A steel cable, preferably. The highest test rope available as next alt?

Need to get the flock of "gawkers" out of the way as well.

And put the boat in reverse?

It looks as though the gent in the middle(wearing the yellow helmet) is getting ready to descend on the vehicle.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on September 12, 2008 at 5:27pm

Mike, I worked one similar to this, minus the boat, plus a 90-foot rappel to access the extrication scene, with the overturned vehicle on the edge of another 40-foot drop. The other difference is that I was riding a heavy rescue, and we damn near stripped the truck for the gear we needed on that call.

Needless to say, that one wasn't where I work now - our average elevation above sea level is 4 feet.

For your scenario, I suppose it's too much to wish that the water is rising and the boat will simply float the truck back up to the guardrail???

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