Delaware City Fire Company, No.1, Inc.

P.O. Box 251

Delaware City, Delaware 19706-0251

Mutual Aid Response turns into Elevated Rescue

Monday, October 4^th, 2021 

At 21:17 hours, Stations 15 & 29 were dispatched for a “mutual aid response” to assist the police with an individual experiencing a psychiatric emergency on top of the Reedy Point Bridge.  Marine and EMS resources were also requested to respond shortly after the initial dispatch and were asked to stage in close proximity to the incident location.

After an extended period of time while the police handled negotiations with the individual – the police requested Fire Department resources to remove the individual who was straddling an elevated beam mid-span on the bridge. The individual was not physically injured at that time but did not have the strength and endurance to safely come down off the elevated beam. At this time, the Incident Commander requested Quint-15 respond to the scene and set up mid-span on the bridge. At 23:11 hours, after the aerial was extended the crew from Quint-15 made verbal contact with the individual who was physically struggling to remain attached to the beam.  At this time; FF Ron Stamper along with Lt. Kayla Bright worked diligently together to safely remove the individual off the beam initially and then down the aerial from the Quint.  At 23:21 hours, as command placed the situation under control, the individual was turned over to awaiting EMS for treatment and evaluation. The individual was ultimately transported to Christiana hospital for additional treatment.

Responding Units: Squad-15, Gator-15, TSU-15, Fireboat-15, Quint-15, C-15, Command-15, 29-Marine 1, 18-Marine 1, Medic 6, ALS-25, Delaware City Police, New Castle County Police, Delaware State Police & DNREC.