Portland firefighters rescue man from steep slope

Lina Portman4 weeks ago

0 2 minutes read

The man suffered a leg injury when he fell on the steep wooded slope between Terwilliger and Barbur boulevards, south of the OHSU campus.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Fire and Rescue crews set up a rope rescue system Thursday evening to help a man who fell over a railing and steep cliff off Terwilliger Boulevard in South -West Portland.

Fire crews were dispatched at 9:20 p.m. after the man called and reported he had fallen on the steep wooded slope between Terwilliger and Barbur Boulevard near the OHSU campus, although the exact location was not known. was not initially clear, according to a PF&R press release.

Crews began searching from both boulevards and the victim told dispatchers he could see fire truck lights on Barbur, prompting crews to begin setting up a marshalling station on the lower road. But they still had trouble finding him, even though the man was screaming and waving his cellphone flashlight.

Other PF&R personnel in Terwilliger heard the victim screaming and eventually located him approximately 70 feet down the road, with a 20-foot retaining wall at the top. The staging station moved to Terwilliger and crews began planning to bring the man back up the slope.

Rescuers used ladders to reach the base of the retaining wall, then used ropes anchored to fire trucks parked on Terwilliger to descend the slope and reach the man. They discovered he suffered injuries to his hip and leg and would have to be fully lifted and carried with a “low angle rope system”. Crew members used a chainsaw to cut a path through the brush while others loaded the man into an escape pod.

Six firefighters at the top of the hill served as a transport team, with a tool attached to prevent the rope from sliding backwards. They took the man to the base of the retaining wall and first considered setting up a crane and winch to lift the basket the last 20 feet, but concluded they could continue pulling at the hand.

They carried the man back over the railing and onto an ambulance stretcher just after 10:30 p.m., and he was taken to hospital for assessment. The PF&R press release contained no information on how he fell or the extent of his injuries.