Members of the Chattanooga Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue team are practicing their high-angle rescue skills this week at UTC’s McKenzie Arena. This morning, the team simulated what might happen to someone, such as a window washer, who somehow gets stranded outside a high-rise building and needs help getting down to safety.
Starting from a catwalk in the arena about 85 feet off the ground, Firefighter Michael Battle is lowered by rope to serve as the victim.
Mr. Battle dangles by himself, 50 feet above the gym floor, as his fellow team-members work out a plan to rescue him. After getting all the ropes, pulleys and related gear in place, Senior Firefighter Mark Brown is lowered from the catwalk to the victim. After carefully attaching rescue ropes to Mr. Battle and releasing him from his original gear, both Battle and Brown are carefully lowered to the gym floor below.
This high-angle rescue training will continue at the arena through Thursday of this week.