County Fire Dept. team practices high-rise heroics

Wednesday, June 12, 2002 | 9:34 a.m.

A window washer dangled precariously with a broken arm from twisted ropes 140 feet from the ground, swaying in the hot breeze blowing late Tuesday afternoon near the Las Vegas Strip.

The Clark County Fire Department's Heavy Rescue Team responded to the call, but the imperiled washer was only a mannequin and the high-rise rescue was actually a drill conducted at the shuttered Maxim.

This was no TV rescue. No one rushed. No one rappeled down the building like superheroes in a comic strip.

Capt. John Steinbeck climbed into an orange harness as he assessed the scene and gathered a 10-man crew above the mannequin.

"We've had several of these rescues in the valley," Steinbeck said. "We always try to practice as much as possible. It's even more important that we train, because these rescues are so rare."

Local firefighters can expect to pluck one person a year from a high rise, an elevator shaft or scaffolding, firefighter David Lloyd said as he readied his ropes for the mannequin, which weighed 150 to 180 pounds.

He lowered himself from the top of the 17-foot tower to about 10 feet from the mannequin, the stopped and started talking: "Hey, I'm here to rescue you. Stay calm and I'll tell you what to do."

If a victim is violent or trembling from shock, firefighters approach them as if they are drowning victims, Lloyd said -- carefully.

Hanging upside down against the side of the hotel like Spider-Man, Lloyd wrestled the mannequin into an orange harness similar to his own. Two sets of ropes helped him lower rescuer and victim.