ARIZONA CITY, AZ — A paratrooper was rescued after becoming entangled in power lines in Arizona on Friday, according to the Eloy Fire District.
Photos on the Eloy Fire District's Facebook page showed the paratrooper's parachute tangled on the top wire of the power line and the paratrooper suspended between the rest of the wires, while his backpack was suspended below.
Fire officials say the situation happened south of Arizona City, which is south of Casa Grande, a city about 45 minutes to an hour from Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. Eloy is home to a popular skydiving area nearby.
"Multiple EFD (emergency fire department) crews responded and had to formulate a plan to contend with not only patient care issues, but also with a massive electrical hazard. Because of the danger, crews unfortunately had to proceed with caution before they could rescue the patient," the department said in its post.
After a "coordinated effort" between emergency crews, the Department of Energy, and Salt River Project (SRP), crews were able to successfully detangle the paratrooper and transport him to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
"Crews accessed the patient, but then had to carefully disentangle him, as a quick release would have caused a slingshot effect on the power lines already under tension," the fire department said.
No other details were released.
