Firefighters David Vargas and Isaias Miranda scaled down an East Rock cliff to rescue a stranded climber in November. Vargas and Miranda, both of Squad One on Whitney Avenue, received an official thanks from city aldermen Monday for saving the climber’s life. On Nov. 2, Kristie Barber, 37, made an emergency call from her cell phone as she hung, stranded, with no climbing equipment, on the face of the cliff. Vargas and Miranda rappelled down the face of the cliff, and, with the help of their squad, brought the woman to safety in just over an hour and a half. “It was a great team effort, but they’re the ones who went out on the line that day,” said Fire Chief Michael Grant.
