No room for fear at high altitudes: Get to know Charlotte’s elite rescue squad

No one in Charlotte gets to do what they do. These workers have chosen to trade in the average 9 to 5 job for dangling off buildings, climbing ropes hundreds of feet in the air and rescuing those in need.

The fire department’s specialized rescue team is a crew of firefighters trained to do the unusual: like saving billboard artists and window washers. Preventing deaths when swimmers or boaters find rough water. Rescuing people who fall into deep underground holes or pits.

Beyond the perils of burning buildings and 911 calls every firefighter faces, these specialists become heroes scaling the sides of Charlotte’s skyscrapers and the depths of the region’s waterways.

“The rescue company is pretty much like a great big giant toolbox on wheels,” firefighter Clayton Llewellyn said.

A high angle rescue is any rescue that requires a rope. When a person — often a construction worker — is injured or has a medical emergency 400 feet in the air, a normal fire truck ladder doesn’t cut it.

Two fire stations in Charlotte have a specialized rescue unit — Station 10, not far from uptown on Wilkinson Boulevard, and Station 11 off North Graham Street.

“Anything out of the ordinary, that’s what this station responds to,” Station 10 firefighter Bradley Blackmon said.

Each day there are 10 people on shift at that station — five on heavy rescue, four on engine company and one chief.

The equipment that the rescue stations carry is more specialized than a traditional fire truck. For example, traditional fire trucks carry two 200-foot ropes. The rescue truck has four 200-foot ropes, two 400-foot ropes and two 600-foot ropes.

Special firefighter training

In front of Station 10 there is a brick three-story tower that from the street appears to be just for show. The tower, though, is much more than an interesting architectural touch.

Not just for looks, the firefighters use it for training to practice high-angle rescue scenarios.

To perform the specialized high angle rescues, additional certification beyond traditional firefighting is required. The crew is always in training — practicing different scenarios to be prepared for any potential rescues.

Carowinds is also a popular training ground for the rescue team. Once a year crews go out to the Drop Tower at the popular amusement park and perform a fake rescue as if the chairs got stuck halfway up the tower.

“We’re trained to access that person and unlock the systems that keep people in their seats,” Llewellyn said.

They’ve also practiced rescues on the Skytower and Windseeker rides.

“It’s fun to think outside the box,” Blackmon said.

Despite the constant training, every rescue presents its unique challenges.

“You can never train and it be exactly what you come across,” Blackmon said.

What a rescue looks like

When they get the call for help, Charlotte Fire first evaluates how best to retrieve an injured victim.

A Stokes basket — essentially a fancy stretcher — is typically used if a patient is unconscious or immobile.

In general, to perform a high angle rescue the crews try to set an anchor above the victim and lower a firefighter down to them. The person they’re saving may be placed in a harness themselves during the rescue if their injuries aren’t too severe.

The firefighters use two heavy-duty ropes — one is a backup in the unlikely scenario the other fails. And they use specialty hardware that functions like a pulley on the ropes, similar to how a climber would use a belay device.

“As elaborate as it looks on TV, it’s actually really simple to do,” Llewellyn said.

Though the specialized rescue team is specifically trained to do these rescues, traditional firefighters can perform high angle rescues as well.

Last week, a construction worker was injured on the 40th floor of a skyscraper. Rescuers from Station 4 — in the heart of uptown — used a crane to help bring the victim down.

The majority of the high angle rescues these Charlotte crews perform are for construction-related incidents, Llewellyn said. Heat-related illnesses or other medical emergencies are also common instigators, he added. There have been 25 high angle rescues performed since January 2020, said Capt. Dennis Gist.

“It’s so unpredictable, we don’t ever know what’s going to cause the problem,” Llewellyn said.

Often when it’s a construction-related incident, bringing the victim down via elevator just isn’t an option.

Stairwells and elevators are not always built at the same time a high-rise is put up. Bringing victims down construction ladders — instead of using the ropes — is more labor-intensive and could harm the victim, Llewellyn said.

Love for the extraordinary

For some of the rescuers, getting to work in such a specialized field has been something they’ve been preparing their whole lives for.

Llewellyn started climbing when he was just 7 years old and knew since he became a firefighter that he wanted to work on the specialized rescue team.

“It’s definitely something we take a lot of pride in,” he said.

Blackmon’s father was a Charlotte firefighter, and from an early age he practiced rope rescues and rappelling in the mountains.

“There’s no better job in this fire department,” he said.

This story was originally published July 27, 2021 at 6:00 AM.