MANCHESTER, NH – A man suffered serious injury June 15 after falling 18-20 feet from a building into a small enclosed space next to a fire escape.
According to District Chief Michael Gamache, rescuers responded to the rear of 49 Manchester St. after a woman heard strange sounds coming from behind a locked wooden gate.
“She works for Merrimack Volvo, and so a few people park their cars back there, right up against the gate,” said Gamache. “She must have gone to her car for something and that’s when said she heard some moaning. In her words, she said she didn’t know if there were ‘two people getting it on’ back there, or what. Anyway, she minded her business and went back to work.”
At some point, Gamache said, someone called to report it, although he isn’t certain whether it was the woman who had originally overheard the man groaning, or a co-worker she relayed the story to.
Rescuers found the man, whose name was not immediately available, under debris inside the small space behind the locked wooden gate. He was described as in his 50s and had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Gamache said.
Although the victim was not “with it” when he was transported to the Elliot Hospital, Gamache said it appears he may have attempted to jump from a roof top to the fire escape landing, and not made it. He did not know if he was a resident of the building.
“The railing is broken, so it looks like maybe he tried to grab onto the railing and it gave. He fell into that small space. It would’ve been tough for him to get out of there if he hadn’t been injured, but he was in pretty bad shape,” Gamache said.
Gamache said he didn’t know how long the man had been stranded there after falling.
“We’re not talking days here. Probably no more than a couple of hours,” Gamache said.
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