Helicopter Rescues Tree Worker 75 Feet Up
- San Jose firefighters and a CAL FIRE helicopter rescued a tree worker on April 24 after a medical emergency left him hanging 75 feet up. - Crews were dispatched about 10:10 a.m. to Sunburst Drive, then used a helicopter hoist when ground access to the tall palm proved impractical. - The worker was hospitalized in serious condition after the rare aerial extraction. (nbcbayarea.com)
A CAL FIRE helicopter and San Jose firefighters pulled a tree worker from a 75-foot palm after he suffered a medical emergency on April 24. (abc7news.com) The worker was trimming a palm in the 2900 block of Sunburst Drive in San Jose’s Hillsdale neighborhood when he became incapacitated in his harness around 10:10 a.m., according to the San Jose Fire Department. (kron4.com) (cbsnews.com) Fire crews first tried to reach him from the ground, but the tree’s height and its distance from the street made that impractical. The department then called in a CAL FIRE helicopter crew for a hoist rescue. (abc7news.com) (sfgate.com) Video released by responders showed a rescuer lowered from the helicopter to the top of the palm, where the worker was secured and brought down. The man was then taken to a hospital in serious condition. (nbcbayarea.com) (cbsnews.com) The operation drew attention because palm-tree rescues are hard to do with standard ladder trucks when the worker is suspended near the crown. In this case, air access solved the problem that street access could not. (cbsnews.com) (kron4.com) News reports said the medical emergency was unrelated to the tree-cutting work itself. Authorities did not publicly identify the worker. (nbcbayarea.com) (abc7news.com) Sunburst Drive was briefly shut down while crews worked beneath the hovering helicopter and cleared space for the rescue. The worker reached the ground after the aerial extraction was completed safely. (hoodline.com) (kron4.com) By Friday afternoon, the rescue had turned a stalled emergency high above a neighborhood street into a hospital transport with the worker alive on the ground. (abc7news.com) (nbcbayarea.com)
