WEST SILOAM SPRINGS, Okla. — The Siloam Springs Fire Department successfully rescued an individual who was working atop a water tower on Dec. 2.
"I was sweating bullets the whole time because I didn't want the victim, of course, we didn't want him to get hurt," Siloam Springs Fire Chief Dustin Kindell said. "We didn't want our crews or anybody out there to get hurt."
The department's Special Operations Team conducted a high-angle rescue on Monday afternoon, safely lowering the individual from a height of 140 feet without any injuries to the worker or first responders.
Kindell said it was the worker's first time changing out some lights on the water tower when he suddenly became very uncomfortable coming back down.
"He just wasn't willing to go back down the same way he went up," he said. "So they said, 'Well, we have another option. We can go down off the side of the tower and repel down using ropes.' And that's exactly what they did."
City Administrator Allan Gilbert commended the Special Operations Team for their swift and effective response.
"Our crews acted in such a manner that it was quite speedy," Kindell said. "They put a system together real fast and lowered him down within just a couple of minutes."
Kindell credits the success of the rescue to the massive amount of training his department goes through each year.
"I'm so proud of our folks for the training that they do," he said. "They train day in and day out. Rain or shine, they are always out there training."
Training resources, like a five-story-tall training tower, were a big factor in pulling off a rescue like this.
"To say that they practice for this specific instance, I can't say that they did that, but they were ready," Kindell said.
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