By Bill Carey
FireRescue1
FORT DODGE, Iowa — Fort Dodge firefighters responded to a structure fire on Nov. 17 and faced a critical challenge: a woman trapped on the third floor as flames and heat closed in. Complicating matters, their ladder couldn’t reach her.
Fort Dodge Fire Chief Steve Hergenreter said a fire truck with that 35-foot ladder would arrive in minutes, but they couldn’t wait, WHO 13 reported.
“The engine that was there had a 24-foot extension ladder that would only get to second-floor windows. We needed a 35-foot extension ladder,” Hergenreter said. “They had to bring into action and improvise. They raised the 24-foot ladder as high as it would go and then the engine also had a 14-foot ladder so a firefighter carried it up, placed it at the top of that, leaned into the window to where the occupant was there he had to hold on tight to keep it braced as best he could.”
The department stated that firefighters reached the third floor, encountering heavy fire at the front of the building and in the attic. They also rescued another occupant from the first floor.
Six people were treated locally for smoke inhalation, and one person was airlifted to Iowa City with burns.
