Joe Marusak
The Charlotte Observer
(TNS)
Firefighters rescued a parachutist dangling from a high-rise building in uptown Charlotte early Tuesday.
The parachutist was seen suspending 100 feet high after their parachute became entangled just after 1 a.m., the Charlotte Fire Department said on social media.
Firefighters responded to reports of a person stuck against the side of a building in the 500 block of South Church Street.
Firefighters arrived within minutes and searched for the person, but initial reports misidentified the location, according to the department. The rescuers soon found the person and “established a high-angle rope system” to reach them.
Just before 1:30 a.m., a firefighter descended to the parachutist and maneuvered the person into the rescue system. Fifteen minutes later, the parachutist “was safely brought onto the rooftop, uninjured,” according to the department.
MEDIC evaluated the parachutist and turned the person over to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers to investigate what happened.
The parachutist refused to say where they jumped “or how they arrived at their precarious position,” fire officials said.
Charlotte Fire units on scene included Rescue 11, Engine 11, Engine 4, Ladder 4, Safety 1, and Battalion 1. “Their swift response and technical expertise ensured a safe outcome,” fire officials said..
Fire Chief Reginald Johnson credited the firefighters’ training for the safe outcome.
“This situation could have ended much differently,” he said.
Charlotte Fire cautioned the public about the “extreme dangers” of unauthorized parachuting, or “BASE jumping” in urban settings. Base jumping involves parachuting from a building.
“BASE jumping appears to hold a five- to eightfold-increased risk of injury or death compared with that of skydiving,” according to the National Library of Medicine.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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