Sunday, October 10, 2010

Firefighters Rescue Paraglider Hanging From Power Lines

Firefighters Rescue Paraglider Hanging From Power Lines

Rescue crews waited for the electricity to be turned off before they rescued a paraglider tangled up in power lines
Rescue crews waited for the electricity to be turned off before they rescued a paraglider tangled up in power lines (CALFIRE / October 9, 2010


NEVADA COUNTY--A crowd watched intently as a woman in a power-paraglider crashed into high voltage power lines, dangling there until she was rescued.

Cal Fire and Pacific Gas and electric crews gathered at the scene at around 5:00 p.m. Saturday to find 52 year old Kara Gridley hanging from power lines in Lake of the Pines, said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Sean Griffis.

"When PG&E arrived, they checked and it was still carrying 7,200 volts of electricity," Griffis told KTLA's sister station in Sacramento, KTXL.

As she waited for crews to rescue her from the power lines, Gridley explained what happened to KTXL over a two-way radio.

"Yeah, basically I didn't have enough altitude. And... yeah. I knew I wasn't gonna get over it. If I'd been thinking, I would've turned toward a tree," Gridley said.

After the power was turned off, Gridley was safely escorted to the ground by Grass Valley firefighters

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