MANCHESTER, NH – On May 1 at approximately 12:30 p.m. Manchester Fire Department was dispatched to Lafayette Park on Notre Dame Avenue for a report of a man stuck in a tree.
Crews arrived to find a 30-year-old man who had attempted to retrieve his drone, which had landed in a tree in the middle of the park, about 60 feet off the ground. With little to no climbing experience the man borrowed a friend’s climbing gear in an attempt to access his drone.
While he was successful in removing his drone from the tree, when it came time to descend to the ground from the upper portion of this large tree, fatigue set in and he was unable to free himself from his locked position.
Fire crews used their own rescue equipment to stabilize the man in his position 60 feet up, to assure that he didn’t fall. A fall from this height would’ve been fatal.
Members from Truck 1 were able to set up the 100-foot ladder from an adjacent alley to access the man, untangle him from his own equipment, and lower him to the ground removing him from harm.
The man refused medical treatment at the scene.
In an interview with the man, he acknowledged that he had no climbing experience. His only experience was self-help videos that he searched for on the web prior to his climbing attempt. This practice is highly discouraged as it can lead to serious injury or death.