By Robert Robinson
Firefighter, Agency

When a man fell from the Oak Grove Historical Bridge on November 19, it was everyone’s business to rescue him. Crews and individuals from many corners sprang into action for this unknown victim. He was lucky that firefighters, paramedics, and even a bystander, put their instinct for self-protection aside and came together as a life-saving unit.

A witness to the fall said the man looked like a rag doll as he plummeted those 50 feet down the rocks. He had narrowly missed falling into the river.

The Rescuers
At the Tulare County Fire Station in Three Rivers, Capt. Scott McCorkil and Firefighter Dennis Villavicencio got the call alerting them that someone had fallen from the historical bridge, seven miles up Mineral King Road from Highway 198, above Three Rivers. Lt. Francisco Benitez and Firefighter Mark Barlow responded from Tulare Co. Fire Station 11 in Exeter, as did six Sequoia National Park rangers from Ash Mountain. One Cal-Fire engine was on scene and Battalion One Chief Bill Whitendale was too.

When the first responders arrived, they found a forty-year-old man had dropped over 50 feet off a cliff near the Oak Grove Bridge. A local resident had already climbed down—barefooted—to see if the man had survived the fall.

He did survive it, but was badly injured, bleeding and had lost some teeth. The victim had suffered head trauma and “seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness,” said Exeter Ambulance Paramedic Jeff Ray.

The Rescue
The team worked to get a rope system in place and harnessed for the rappel down the side of the steep, rocky cliff. Ray, Villavicencio, and one of the park rangers descended with a basket to the fallen man and the barefoot citizen who helped in the rescue.

“When we got to him he had almost no pulse and was in shock,” Ray said, “but as soon as we got some oxygen on him and blankets he started to pick his pulse back up and respond more.”

They stabilized the man and secured him in the basket as emergency team members above helped pull the victim up the cliff side. Ray and a park ranger went up with the basket, and Villavicencio stayed below with the barefoot man who had climbed down to help.

The victim was whisked through the hillside brush to an awaiting ambulance on the road to be transported down the mountain to the Three Rivers Golf Course where a Highway Patrol helicopter was waiting to airlift him to Fresno Community Medical Center.

One of the park rangers, in a show of great teamwork and kindness, took off his boots and lowered them down to the barefoot resident-rescuer to make it easier on his feet as the crew helped him up the cliff.

Reflections
As nightfall set in and rescue crews loaded their equipment, they discussed the day’s events and congratulated each other on a job well done. It was a successful multi-organizational effort marked by a quick response and impeccable coordination that saved a life. “Thanks to everyone’s cooperation and teamwork. Things went smoothly and quickly to get this man to safety and on his way to the hospital,” reflected Capt. McCorkil.

Fast response time and a great effort along with remarkable teamwork by these responding agencies resulted in a smooth quick rescue that undoubtedly saved this man’s life.