Crime & Safety

Fire Company Rescues Child Safely From Tree

And they say this kind of call is not common.

Though considered a highly unusual circumstance, the Martinsville Volunteer Fire Company was called out Sunday evening to help a 6-year-old child who had gotten stuck in a tree outside a Brookside Avenue home.

While all parties were brought down safely, Bill Rose, with the fire company, said these kinds of calls are not frequent.

"This is actually the first time we have been called for something like this," he said, adding that having to get cats out of trees is actually more common. "In my memory, I do not recall us ever responding to a call like this and do not remember hearing about another fire department, in the area, having a response like this."

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Rose said that, basically, a child had climbed a tree in her backyard, but was too scared to come back down again. After her parents unsuccessfully attempted to coax her down, they called the fire department.

"Firefighters deployed a ladder and one firefighter climbed up, approximetly 20 feet, and carried the little girl down to the ground," he said.

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They also had to help the father down, Rose said, who had climbed to just below her in the tree and was trying to calm her when the fire department arrived.

"I'm not sure that the father was stuck, as much as up the tree trying to assure the child that things were under control and help on the way," he said.

Rose said that in this kind of situation, firefighters would not try to coax the child down themselves, but instead choose to immediately deploy the ladders to get the person down.

"We would not try to coax a child down, as this creates the danger of falling," he said.

Fortunately, Rose said, all were brought down to the ground safe and sound.

"There were no injuries," he said.


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