By Tim Eberly The Fresno Bee
Fresno Bee (California)
Copyright 2006 McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
A team of 17 firefighters and emergency personnel rescued an 18-year-old Fresno man who injured himself Sunday afternoon on a steep embankment near a local golf course.
Scott Thomas may have fractured his ankle or lower leg when he fell. He was taken to University Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition, Fresno fire Battalion Chief Casey Clark said Sunday night.
Thomas and three friends were trying to get to the edge of the San Joaquin River on the west side of Riverside Golf Course to play on a rope swing, Clark said.
While walking down the steep slope to the river, Thomas got his right leg caught in a wood stump or crevice.
His friends called for help, and were able to free Thomas’ leg.
But Thomas, whose weight is estimated at 300 pounds, couldn’t walk up the embankment, and his friends couldn’t carry him up, Clark said.
The Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue team, along with American Ambulance’s STAR rescue team, reached the accident site at 5:10 p.m.
The golf course is north of Herndon Avenue and east of Highway 99.
The firefighters used a “rescue basket” attached to ropes with pulleys to bring Thomas up, Clark said.
Four rescuers went down the slope to tie Thomas to the rescue basket, while a team of eight pulled him 30 feet up the embankment, Clark said.
The other young men with Thomas were able to walk up the slope by themselves.
The rescue took 45 minutes, Clark said.
The place where Thomas got hurt is a trouble spot for firefighters, who go there two to three times a year to help people who fall on the slope, Clark said.