Firefighters assist during rescue after boom bucket gets stuck nine floors high
Ann Arbor Fire Department assists during a rescue of two people in a malfunctioning boom at an off-campus student apartment building on May 12.
By Paula Wethington
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ANN ARBOR, Michigan (WWJ) — Two crew members were stuck for hours in a boom truck nine floors high just outside in a housing project in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the local fire department reported.
The two were finally rescued, without injury, with a complicated rescue that took place Monday at The Verve Ann Arbor, which is an off-campus student housing building on South Forest Avenue near the University of Michigan and west of I-94.
The Ann Arbor Fire Department said its crews were called about 2 p.m. Monday for an assist, after the crews had already been stuck in the boom truck for about 2 ½ hours. The equipment had experienced a mechanical failure and the initial repair efforts were unsuccessful.
The fire department sent four vehicles and its crews to the scene. Huron Valley Ambulance also responded to the call.
Several rescue strategies were attempted both from inside and outside the apartment building. For example, despite “great positioning by the driver,” the fire department report said, the tower truck still came up about 10 feet short of the workers’ location.
The final rescue attempt involved a crew working from inside to remove windows. With that temporary gap, the workers could get to get into a ninth-floor space.
Neither one was injured.
Generally any location above a seventh floor is not accessible with current vehicle equipment, the fire department explained on social media. Its tallest ladder on a truck reaches about 100 feet.
That being said, Ann Arbor City Council recently approved the purchase of a new tiller ladder truck, “so we are getting equipment support.” The fire department said it also trains its crews on how to approach fires in taller buildings using an inside approach.
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