NITRO, W.Va. — First responders to a bizarre incident on the Donald Legg Memorial Bridge in the Nitro area received unit citations this week for their quick action.
Firefighters from Nitro, Institute, Teays Valley, and St. Albans along with the Nitro Police Department all responded to the incident on May 5th. A woman wrecked her car on the bridge, then somehow went over the edge of the bridge. However, she didn’t fall to the water below, she wound up on the catwalk under the bridge.
“It was an extraordinary event. It was a high incident, but low frequency from what we normally run. We train for a lot of things and all of the training came into play that day,” said Nitro Fire Chief Casey Mathes.
To handle the incident all barge traffic on the Kanawha River was stopped and all motor vehicle traffic in both directions on I-64 was stopped for several hours. Every department had a role according to Mathes.
“It was a multi-task. We shut the river down and had a rescue boat in the water in case something did go bad. We had an operation on top with a rope rescue,” he explained.
Nobody is sure how the woman wound up there, but the communications and coordination between departments helped safely rescue the woman and get her to out of harms way. No first responders were injured either.
“We wanted to recognize each department for an extraordinary job they did for making quick decisions, selflessness, and determination to resolve the call,” Mathis said.