Sam Smith/Facebook
Dodging falling rocks, John Cretella brings Yale student to safety.
Three firefighters were sent to the hospital Thursday afternoon as a result of a “hairy” rescue operation at East Rock Park.
The fire department got the call around 3:45 p.m. A female climber who attends Yale was stuck on the face of East Rock.
Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo
Firefighters arrived quickly and got to work on a rope rescue. One company approached her from the bottom of the rock. Three other companies approached from the top of East Rock.
“She was not far from falling. She was tired, and she was at the point she was about to let go,” Chief Michael Grant said at the scene.
Two firefighters dangled from ropes. It took a while, but they got her, safe and sound. She was on the ground by about 5 p.m.
Three of the firefighters weren’t as lucky. Lt. Jay Schwartz was seriously injured; he lost his footing and fell, according to Chief Grant. He is believed to have suffered a severe compound fracture to his leg. A falling rock struck a second firefighter. Both were transported to the hospital for treatment.
So was a third firefighter who had been suspended from a rope for some three-quarters of an hour. He was being sent to be examined, as a precaution.
Schwartz was in surgery Thursday evening. Friday morning Chief Grant reported that the surgery went well and Schwartz’s prognosis is good, though he’ll be laid up for a while. “He’s resting comfortably,” Grant said.
One firefighter involved in the Thursday rescue described a “hairy” situation.
The woman was apparently trapped in a crevice under an outcropping an estimated 100 feet up from the base. She and a male companion had apparently tried to free climb the rock starting from the bottom until she got caught; she had a cellphone and called for help.
The two firefighters who eventually helped her, Capt. Matt Marcarelli and Firefighter John Cretella, had been lowered down from the rock’s summit. They reached in to get her as shale and rocks were falling all around and as colleagues were helping the injured firefighters.
Marcarelli’s report: “I told [Cretella] how to rig her in, then told her to jump to him. As they were lowered to the treeline, I grabbed the two of them and guided them down. He did a great job, and she is lucky to be alive.”
The woman (pictured, with her companion) declined to identify herself to reporters who questioned her at the base of the rock. Nor did she want to say what happened. She appeared to be in her late teens or early 20s. She wore a long-sleeved plaid shirt over another shirt and spandex workout shorts.
Assistant Chief Pat Egan said she and her companion are Yale students. They were charged with reckless endangerment and with violating a local ordinance forbidding climbing the rock, he said. They have an Oct. 19 court date.
Officials often warn people not to climb the rock face. At the scene Thursday, Grant made that point again.
“Stay off the rocks,” he said.
The rescue prompted police to close part of the road that encircles the rock and drew a few cyclists, hikers and neighbors who came to peek at the scene.
Asked if the woman would face charges, Grant said, “I would surely hope so.”
Paul Bass contributed reporting.
Send her the bill.