VANDERBURGH CO., Ind. (WEHT) – A Vanderburgh County family had some scary moments Tuesday night after an 11-year-old girl climbed a tree while playing by herself. Before she realized she couldn’t get herself down, she had climbed up to 80 feet high.
It took twenty first responders to bring her down safely into her mother’s arms. Scott Township firefighters were the first to respond to the corner of Old State Road and Browning. Firefighters tried to use their ladders to bring her to safety, but discovered they were not tall enough.
“We initially started setting up with a ladder to get as high up as we can and that was still about 20 to 25 feet short of where she was,” says Lt. Ryan Bosecker, one of the Scott Township firefighters on scene.
Evansville firefighters were then called to the scene for assistance. EFD used ropes and techniques similar to rock climbing to get up to where the girl was trapped.
The girl was trapped barefoot in the tree for more than an hour. Once she was finally safe, she was wrapped in a blanket to keep warm. Firefighters say the girl was okay, but was taken to the hospital to get checked out as a precaution.
