On Thursday, May 19, 2022, at approximately 10:30 a.m., firefighters from Mechanicsville and Hollywood Volunteer Fire Departments responded to the 84 Lumber located at 37675 New Market Turner Road in Mechanicsville, for the service call.
The 911 caller advised two workers were stuck in a stalled boom truck, approximately 70 feet in the air.
Firefighters responding to the scene requested a High Angle Rescue assignment, which brought crews from Waldorf, Hughesville, Calvert and St. Mary’s County to the scene. The Charles County High Angle Rescue team is responding to assist.
Personnel are currently operating on the scene to rescue to two workers.
No injuries have been reported.
Updates will be provided when they become available.
High Angle Rescue – High angle rescue operations involve terrains with slopes of 60 degrees or greater.
In these scenarios, the rescue personnel require a more comprehensive set of skills, as they rely entirely on ropes and other specialized hauling and hoisting equipment to access and rescue the people who are stranded. This characteristic places both rescuer and rescuee at a greater risk of injury to life and limb if the rope system fails. To minimize this risk, in addition to needing specialized training and certifications, rescue personnel must be in good physical condition to be qualified to perform high angle rescues.
Applications for high angle rescue include saving people from high elevations, such as high-rise buildings, storage tanks, towers, and wind turbines, and underground locations like caverns, mine shafts, and wells.
