Rope rescue in Clifton Gorge
- Published: July 9, 2015
• Return to main article: Miami Township budgets ambulance.
The Miami Township Fire-Rescue squad pulled a Centerville youth from the Clifton Gorge after she fell 30–60 feet into the “narrows” on Tuesday evening, June 23. The 16-year-old girl, who had gone there to “cliff dive,” was taken to the hospital and walked away the same night with only cuts and bruises, according to Miami Township Fire Chief Colin Altman in an interview last week.
“She was very lucky,” he said.
According to Altman, at 7:23 p.m. the squad received a report that someone had toppled into the creek. All 16 firefighter/EMT personnel at the station for a training event responded with six trucks and rope rescue equipment, which the group had just recently trained with.
The team, assisted by officers with the Greene County Sheriff and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, located the victim below the trail. Three of her friends, who had climbed down to help her, were also stuck at the bottom. The three friends, ages 17, 22 and 24, were able to climb up a rope to safety, while the squad brought the injured party up in a basket with a high angle rope rescue.
The victim was taken to Greene Memorial Hospital at 10:30 and was released later that night.
The group went to the Gorge after seeing a digital post about good swimming and cliff diving in the gorge. However, neither activity is safe, and cliff diving is considered illegal, Altman said. The state plans to pursue trespassing charges against the group.
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