POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — The day after firefighters rescued a tractor trailer driver from his cab dangling off U.S. Route 35 in Mason County those firefighters are saying it’s part of the job.
There were eventually six fire departments on the scene. Hurricane Fire Chief Paul Niedbalski said they were caught off guard with the initial call but then a tactical rescue plan in place.
“Those folks showed up, they worked seamlessly and hats off to those guys,” Niedbalski said Wednesday during an appearance on MetroNews “Midday.” “They’re the ones who are the backbone of this operation. Without them, this would have never happened.”
Hurricane Firefighter Wes Quinn volunteered to get into the harness and be lowered to the cab.
“I told him I’d do it,” Quinn, also a guest on MetroNews Midday, said. “They set everything up. They set up the system and I was set up with a main line and a safety line and I had the patient’s safety line with me too.”
Once at the cab Quinn said he handed the harness to the driver who had moved over to the passenger side of the truck. He said there was some initial confusion.
“He started to put it on wrong. We had to get it back off him. I had to get in the truck with him and get him in a better position where I could help him put it on,” Quinn said.
Once harnessed in, the team began raising the two men back toward the bridge.
The driver suffered was not injured.
Niedbalski said this is why they train.
“I knew the quality of people we had on the scene, their background, overall, it was somewhat routine but very technical. We took our time, we had our safeties in place and we did it by the book,” Niedbalski said.
Quinn said training gets you ready for what happened Tuesday but when it does happen you just react.
“I just knew there was somebody that needed me and I was there to do the task,” he said.