COLUMBIA — An MU Power Plant worker is recovering after having a medical emergency and becoming trapped on Thursday afternoon.
Battalion Chief Brad Fraizer said firefighters were called after a worker had a medical emergency while performing routine maintenance on a reservoir 20 feet underground. The reservoir was empty, but the worker wasn’t able to get out on his own. Fraizer said the worker was in an area that was only about 4 or 5 feet wide, so firefighters had to slide a cot under the worker and then pull him out using ropes and pulleys.
Fraizer said the department’s technical rescue team had just recently finished a training exercise at the power plant, so they knew the facility well. The worker was taken to University Hospital and is expected to recover.
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.
