BAINBRIDGE, Ohio — A Ross County volunteer fire department worked through a grueling stretch beginning late Friday, responding to a fatal structure fire in neighboring Huntington Township before completing a rope rescue certification course and then extricating a driver from a crash with entrapment in Pike County.
Bainbridge Volunteer Fire Department crews were dispatched around 11 p.m. Friday to assist Huntington Township Fire Department with a structure fire that killed one person, according to a statement Huntington Township released on the incident. Bainbridge units remained on scene until clearing around 3 a.m. Saturday, the department said.
Less than seven hours later, Bainbridge members reported to the station at 10 a.m. Saturday for the second day of a low-angle rope rescue course, and eight members completed the training and earned certification, the department said in a Facebook post.
Low-angle rope rescue operations are used on terrain sloped roughly 15 to 40 degrees, conditions in which rescuers cannot simply walk a victim to safety, the department said. Crews instead rely on mechanical advantage systems, specialized litter tie-ins and anchor systems to safely move a victim up or down a slope.
While the course was underway, Bainbridge crews received a request to cover a serious injury crash with entrapment in Pike County. Firefighters used mechanical means to free the entrapped victim, and an AirEvac Lifeteam medical helicopter was requested to fly the patient to a trauma center, the department said. The exact location of the crash and the victim’s condition were not released.
As crews were returning from that call, they were dispatched again, this time to a medical call involving two patients, the department said. Further details on that call were not released.
“This is a strong reminder of the selflessness of community members who step up in times of crisis as volunteers sacrificing personal time, away from their families and primary careers,” the department said in its post.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Bainbridge Volunteer Fire Department and Huntington Township Fire Department.
