COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — Members of the Coeur d’Alene fire department’s technical rescue team practiced for a rare, but hazardous, situation today — rescuing someone stuck on a crane.
Using a 100-foot crane at a construction site downtown, firefighters prepared for what they would do if a crane operator were injured or had a medical emergency and needed to be rescued. They said that is a rare situation, but that they wanted to prepare anyway.
“Stepping up to the challenge of a thing that we don’t do a ton, and learning the best ways to do it,” said Craig Etherton, a fire marshal and the fire department’s public information officer.
As part of the training, firefighters scaled the crane, secured a stretcher to cables and slowly lowered it the ground.
“It’s very safe the way that we set it up, but just the whole operation in general is a pretty hazardous operation for sure. You’re hanging from a rope 100 feet in the air,” Etherton said.
It’s not often the fire department holds trainings like this. The construction company building a hotel downtown reached out to the fire department, offering the crane for practice.
Some onlookers on the ground were curious what was going on.
“[I] wanted to know if something had happened,” said Kelly Cuilla, a Coeur d’Alene visitor.
Once they realized they were watching a training, the onlookers said they were glad the fire department was practicing.
“I think that’s golden. That’s what we all look for—for preparation to know what to do when there is an emergency,” said Happy Modisette, another visitor.
The fire department reminds the public to remain aware of their surroundings at active construction sites.
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