Parachuter freed after seven hours stuck in tree near Yea
A parachuter has been winched to safety near Yea after spending seven hours stuck in a tree standing on one leg. He was the second skydiver to find themselves perched in a tree that day. WATCH THE RESCUE
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A parachuter has been winched to safety after spending seven hours stuck in a tree near Yea.
Kinglake SES, firefighters and a specialist high-angle rescue technicians freed the man late on Sunday night after he spent hours perched 20m off the ground, with his chute suspended metres above him.
The man, who was aged in his 40s, was forced to stand on one leg for the entire time due to a lack of room in the tree.
He was the second parachuter to find themselves stuck in a tree near Yea on December 8, with another man able to free himself before SES crews found him.
Kinglake SES unit controller Leanne Klammer told the Leader the parachuter became stuck in Ghin Ghin about two hours before the alarm was raised about 6pm.
“He was well and truly tangled in a quite a tall branchy tree and he was standing on a branch still attached to his parachute,” she said.
“We were the first emergency services on scene and we reported the exact location for other emergency services, did a recon(naissance) of the actual situation and looked at possible solutions.
“As the night drew on we set up some lighting and one of the members had to get a chainsaw to cut trees that had fallen down that we’re causing trip hazards and obstructing the start of the rescue.”
Ms Klammer said she wasn’t sure what caused the two parachuters to become stuck but it was one of the more obscure rescues their unit had attended.
He was eventually freed about 10.45pm and was taken to the Northern Hospital in Epping in a stable condition with minor injuries.
He has since been discharged.
“The was a little bit of a cheer, everyone was relieved that he was down,” Ms Klammer said.
“He might have been very uncomfortable but he was safe.
“There was no doubt from any of the emergency services people that he was going to be brought down safely – we all just worked really well together and got the job done.”
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“Once everything was set up, the rescue operation took around 20 minutes,” Homewood Fire Brigade Captain Tom O’Dwyer said.
“Technical rescue specialists arrived on scene so crews hooked up some ropes and a trained member climbed up to release the man.”