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By First Assistant Chief Siminski

Friday August 29, 2025

By now you’ve probably seen the news story of the county fair passengers stranded high in the air on a swing ride. Luckily, all those people were uninjured and able to be rescued safely by an aerial ladder bucket. But what if things had been different? What if there were injuries or complicated rescues to be made?

On Aug 18th the Springville Fire Dept conducted a joint drill with the Chaffee-Sardinia Fire Co. to practice aerial ladder operations and in particular, the use of the stokes basket cradle and some rope rescue techniques for lowering the stokes basket to the ground.

We started with some basic aerial truck set up and operation of the controls and features. We also discussed where the equipment is stored and how to assemble the cradle, how to transfer the stokes to the rooftop, and alternative solutions to accomplish the same task. 

When the aerial bucket was raised to the rescue site, the rescuers ascended the aerial ladder and a ground ladder to gain access where 2 patients were found stranded on the roof and overcome by fumes from a rooftop heater unit.  Some patient assessment was conducted, and the patient was packaged and prepped for decent to waiting medical providers and an ambulance. As you can tell by the pictures the orange stokes basket sit in cradle and is secured to the top rail of the bucket. The patient is securely fastened into the stokes and redundant securement is in place. A scary yet secure ride for the person inside, but our rescue mannequins didn’t mind a bit.  

As an alternative to the stokes cradle, rescuers modified the rescue plan for the second patient utilizing the main ladder section to be used as a slide to guide the stokes to the ground. After the second patient was packaged, an anchor point was established inside the bucket and the stokes was rigged with a life safety rope and decent control device. This allowed rescuers to slowly and carefully lower the stokes from the bucket to the turntable and then to the ground for medical care. 

Although these types of rescue techniques are rarely used, we must maintain sharp skills and the ability to provide multiple solutions to safely make the rescue. The opportunity for the two companies to work together and have fun in the process is invaluable to morale, comradery, and idea sharing. If you’d like to join our Fire Family, please see our membership page for an application and information about becoming a firefighter.