FIREFIGHTERS RESCUE KID STUCK HIGH UP IN A TREE

Elyria – Kids climbing trees is as old as…. Well, kids and trees. Today one Elyria 13-year-old discovered that if you go too high sometimes it’s tough getting back down.

Assistant Chief Ron Brlas of the Elyria Fire Department said the young man was just out playing near his East Ave home when he began his journey up into the tree. “He got up a little more than 30 feet when he couldn’t figure out how to get back down the tree safely.”

Brlas said when Firefighters arrived the child had already been up in the tree for about 45 minutes according to his Grandmother.

Firefighters first raised a ladder and began cutting limbs to gain access to the child. While cutting they realized the tree might sway too much during a ladder rescue and send the child from his perch to the ground. “He was freezing cold already up there,” said Brlas. “We weren’t sure how much strength he had left to hang on if the tree started moving around so we opted to put the Tower up and get him down that way.”

Two Firefighters went up in Tower 8’s bucket and inched as close as they could to the child without moving the tree. Another Firefighter was just below on a ladder assisting with moving and cutting branches as needed. Once they got close enough Firefighter Chad Arcaba reached out and safely pulled the young man into the bucket. Once he was inside about 12 people who had gathered below applauded the successful rescue.

Once the child was back on the ground he was evaluated by LifeCare Paramedics and was then released to his Grandmother.

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