The Herald-Sun
DURHAM, N.C. — Firefighters rescued a homeless woman who was trapped in a concrete pit at J.J. Henderson Towers on South Duke Street on Wednesday morning, officials said.
“She was wedged down in between two ladders,’' said acting Battalion Chief Teresa Hayes of the Durham Fire Department. “She couldn’t tell us’’ how it happened. “She just said that she fell and couldn’t get out.’'
“I don’t know the whole story about how she got there,’' Hayes said. “We were all scratching our heads on that one.’'
Hayes said firefighters got the call about 5:39 a.m. after a carrier for The Herald-Sun heard her calling for help and dialed 911.
“There was a rail up on that ledge to keep people from falling over,’' Hayes said. “So it appeared that she just didn’t fall over. She may have been thinking she was one place and not realizing she was there. I don’t know.’'
She said the woman, whom she described as being about 60, may have suffered a broken leg. She was transported to the emergency room at Duke University Hospital. She said the woman said she didn’t live at Henderson Towers, which provides public housing for the elderly.
Fire reports said the concrete pit was in front of the housing complex and was about 10 feet deep.
“She was wedged within the frame of the ladder, with her right leg edged between the ladder and a barrier wall,’' the report said.
“It looked like they probably have one of their major power sources running down in there,’' Hayes said. “And it looked like there might have been a transformer on the other side of that wall.’'
Assistant Fire Chief Dan Curia said firefighters freed the woman by 6:32 a.m. He said 14 fire personnel responded.
Jean Bolduc, director of corporate communications for the Durham Housing Authority, said the woman was apparently homeless.
''She was apparently trying to get down into that maintenance area,’' she said. ''There are safety railings around the area, so she had to deliberately climb in there. She was unable to get herself out, so they had to get a hoist to pull her out. She is not a resident at J.J. Henderson. We actually don’t know who she is.’'
''We understand from the residents that it is not unusual for homeless people to try to get down into those areas, especially as the weather changes and gets cooler at night, so they can get into a secure area and stay warm.’'
Copyright 2009 The Durham Herald Co.