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Man suffers a 2-story fall in Old Sacramento. Here’s how firefighters came to the rescue

Generic photo of fire engine at scene of emergency

A man who plunged 20 feet from decking in Old Sacramento late Saturday was hoisted to safety by fire rescuers.

Sacramento fire officials showed the rescue in a Twitter post. The man dropped from a fenced area near Joe’s Crab Shack, 1210 Front St., just before 11:30 p.m. to the rocky ground below, feet from the Sacramento River.

A fall from two stories is considered life-threatening, and fire crews called to the scene treated the plunge as a critical incident. But the man was said to be in stable condition when rescuers arrived, Sacramento Fire Capt. Keith Wade said Sunday.

The rescue was complicated by the late hour. Watercraft would have aided in the man’s rescue in daylight hours, but would have been too risky at night, Wade said.

Instead, firefighters performed the labor-intensive, high-angle rescue, Wade said, lashing the man into a safety basket for the cautious pull from the riverbank to Front Street for the ride to a nearby hospital.

This story was originally published March 27, 2022 at 5:34 PM.

Darrell Smith
The Sacramento Bee
Darrell Smith is a local reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs and Marysville. Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base and lives in Elk Grove.
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