08-19-16 Firefighters Pull Ederly Motorist Out of Ravine

This morning's incident involved a motor vehicle in Hixson. A motorist driving along Big Ridge Road shortly after 8:00 a.m. saw a vehicle leave the road near the intersection of Fairview Drive and go down a steep embankment. The motorist immediately called 911 to get help.

Chattanooga firefighters with Quint 19, Squad 19 and Squad 7 responded to the scene. Battalion Chief Don Bowman said the vehicle was approximately 100 feet down a brush-covered ravine and could not be seen from the road. The firefighters found an elderly man in the vehicle and worked to get him out and into a Stokes rescue basket. The firefighters then carried the victim up the ravine and handed him off to paramedics with Hamilton County EMS, which transported him non-emergency to a local hospital. The rescue operation took about 30 minutes to complete.

Chief Bowman offered high praise for the motorist who saw the accident can called 911. "If the motorist had not seen the accident and called 911," said Bowman, "that man probably would not have survived, because no one would have known that he was down there." Chattanooga police are handling the investigation of the accident.

In yesterday incident, firefighters rescued a woman who fell off a bluff on the side of Raccoon Mountain.