Lexington Firefighters Rescue Man Trapped Between Two Buildings

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Lexington fire officials say they received an unusual call about 7 a.m. Sunday about a young man who was trapped between the walls of two downtown buildings.

Fire investigators say they learned the man was stuck in a 14 to 18 inch space between the buildings when a police dispatcher was walking into a building and heard him yelling for help.

“This was a difficult situation because it was a really narrow area for our firefighters to work and get equipment in, so we had to use a couple folding ladders. We sent two firefighters into the space who were able to assist him,” said Maj. Daniel Bellot.

Bellot says they finally pulled the bruised and bloodied man out and rushed him to UK Hospital.

“He was alert and he was able to communicate with firefighters,” he said.

He says they believe the man, who is in his 20s, fell about 20 feet into the narrow space behind the police department.

“We’re assuming that he was on top of the roof and probably didn’t see the separation between the two walls,” Bellot said.

“Then he slipped and fell?” asked WKYT’s Mark Barber. “That’s what appears to have happened,” said Bellot.

According to police, he was stuck for at least five hours.

Bellot says it’s amazing the young man survived.

“He’s very lucky that he’s alive. He’s also very lucky that someone was able to hear him screaming for help,” he said.

Investigators say they’re still working to figure out who he is and why he was on the roof.

About Author

countyfiretactics

Curt Isakson is a 35 year veteran of the fire service. Curt is currently a Battalion Chief for Escambia County Fire Rescue. Previously worked 9 years with the Pensacola Fire Department where he was assigned as the Company Officer on Rescue 31. Curt’s fire service experiences started at a young age as a Junior firefighter with the Midway Fire Protection District and rose through the ranks to Captain. He has worked in volunteer, career, and combination departments.

Curt has held all ranks up to Battalion Chief and been assigned to operations, training, inspections, and was Chief of Special Operations for 7 years. Curt owns and operates County Fire Tactics that covers a very diverse range of fire service topics, as well as Firefighter Rescues, a site that documents rescues made by firefighters around the country.

He has annual contracts with numerous departments to provide standardized monthly training for these departments that respond daily together under an automatic aid agreement. Curt teaches nationally to include; FDIC, Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World, Orlando Fire Conference, Atlanta Fire Conference, Bowling Green State University, and owns/operates the annual HROC, COBC, WOTF, CFT ODP on Pensacola Beach. He is a Florida Certified Fire Officer, Instructor, Inspector, Arson, and FLUSAR.

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