Firefighters sent to rescue call at Capen Park in Columbia
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Firefighters and medics on Tuesday afternoon responded to Capen Park in Columbia after a man fell from a hiking trail.
According to the Columbia Fire Department, crews were called at 3:40 p.m. after receiving a report that a man had fallen between 10-30 feet. The park, known for its steep rock walls along Hinkson Creek, is a popular spot for hikers and climbers.
The man was hiking with another person, who called to report the fall. However, Columbia Fire Battalion Chief Ryan Adams said the initial challenges on scene were locating where the victim fell.
“Unfortunately, we didn't know exactly where that was. So when we got here, we did have a generalized area based on the cellphone pinging that our dispatch center got,” Adams told ABC 17 News. “We sent two recon crews initially to try to see if we could locate where the patient was, so we sent one low and one high. We did eventually find the patient about a quarter mile up the cliff face. That was about 20-to-30 feet down from the actual cliff top.”
Fire crews had multiple trucks at the park entrance, as well as crews along East Stadium Boulevard on the other side of the hill. After finding the victim, the call was upgraded to a technical rescue based on the fall's location and the associated dangers.
“We have many teams that are up on top because we have to have edge spotters, we have to have rigging personnel, so they'll rig the entire system. And then we have two rescuers at least who go to the patient, and we always have backups for that. Plus, just the amount of equipment that it takes, especially when you're in a wilderness environment like that,” Adams said. “We carry lots of other components that, if we have to make high-angle changes to the directions on the cliff face, we can do that. So it's just very personnel heavy when we get to things like this.”
Adams said CFD had crews working a high and low-angle rescue due to the steepness of the hill. Some of the rescuers were stationed next to the victim, while another group waited near the bottom of the hill with a UTV to transport the victim.
“The patient was able to walk out with assistance and being in a harness from where he was at down to the very bottom of the cliffside,” Adams said.
Adams added that these types of rescues are uncommon, but crews train for them often due to the challenges involved.
“They're high-hazard events that encompass many different safety issues,” Adams said. “We were just training on this exact scenario yesterday at a different location.”
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