North Texas Firefighters Recall 800-Foot Tower Rescue

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Burleson and Crowley firefighters call it the most dangerous thing they've ever done.

A maintenance crew had just descended the cell tower they were working on when they realized one of their coworkers hadn't made it down. He'd stopped, unable to continue because of the heat. Now he was stuck, 700 feet up on an 800 foot tower.

One firefighter climbed for nearly an hour to get to the stranded worker.

"He was cramping up," recalled Burleson firefighter Dallas Fowler, who was first to reach the man. "He was real weak. He couldn't get back in his harness."

The man had taken off his safety harness and climbed out of the tower structure to a narrow platform on the outside.

"So they just couldn't just reach out and hand him stuff," said Battalion Chief Tom Foster with the Crowley Fire Department. "There was a six foot gap... with planks this wide which is how he got up there," Foster said as he held his hands up about three feet apart.

Three other firefighters then made the climb carrying heavy ropes and rescue gear.

"The wind was blowing their ropes and straps straight side ways," said Burleson Fire Dept. Lt. Jeremiah Lozier, who helped coordinate the rescue from the ground. "Communication to to the ground had to be planned whenever they were talking on the radio to us because they had to bend over and cover their mics."

"It actually got where you were cramping so bad in your shoulders, and biceps, and arms you had to change the way you were climbing," Burleson firefighter Matt Moseley said of the grueling climb. "So I started using the rungs, then the rails then I actually got to where I put my arms through and get my elbows in there and pull myself up."

One of the rescue team said the worker actually drank a bag of saline meant for an IV to recover enough for the descent. And as nervous fire crews watched below, the worker was lowered to safety after a 7-hour ordeal.

"It was literally draining us, me and the chief and the crews, that our guys were up there trying to save a life," Foster said. "It was great! Everybody did a great job."

Burleson officials said the man was hospitalized and Thursday night was in serious condition.