Post by L Roebuck on Jul 3, 2006 7:31:46 GMT -5
Rescuers Pull Woman From Cave
The weather didn't help much when it came to an overnight cave rescue in South Austin. KXAN's cameras were rolling as rescuers pulled the woman from the cave.
At around 10 p.m. Sunday, a woman and her friends were down the Barton Creek Greenbelt about a half-mile exploring the caves. They went inside what's called Airman's Cave at around 4 p.m.
Officials say the group went back in about 1,000 feet, through tight twists and turns inside the cave.
However, one of the women was having a hard time getting out. So the group exited the cave and called 911 for help.
A special operations team with the Austin Fire Department arrived.
In all, about 50 firefighters and EMS personnel were on the scene to go inside the cave and rescue the woman.
Officials said that these types of rescues are common.
"In this cave, again, it's very difficult, physically demanding to get back there, and then after going through a couple of tight fits where you literally have to breathe out all of your air and then squeeze through," Palmer Buck with AFD said, "we've had some people that just couldn't make themselves go back in. That might have been the case here."
Once the rescuers got inside the cave, they say the woman was able to walk out on her own. She's doing just fine.
Officials told us with 300 caves along the greenbelts in Austin, their special operations team trains for these types of situations.
Article and Video:
www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=5107833
The weather didn't help much when it came to an overnight cave rescue in South Austin. KXAN's cameras were rolling as rescuers pulled the woman from the cave.
At around 10 p.m. Sunday, a woman and her friends were down the Barton Creek Greenbelt about a half-mile exploring the caves. They went inside what's called Airman's Cave at around 4 p.m.
Officials say the group went back in about 1,000 feet, through tight twists and turns inside the cave.
However, one of the women was having a hard time getting out. So the group exited the cave and called 911 for help.
A special operations team with the Austin Fire Department arrived.
In all, about 50 firefighters and EMS personnel were on the scene to go inside the cave and rescue the woman.
Officials said that these types of rescues are common.
"In this cave, again, it's very difficult, physically demanding to get back there, and then after going through a couple of tight fits where you literally have to breathe out all of your air and then squeeze through," Palmer Buck with AFD said, "we've had some people that just couldn't make themselves go back in. That might have been the case here."
Once the rescuers got inside the cave, they say the woman was able to walk out on her own. She's doing just fine.
Officials told us with 300 caves along the greenbelts in Austin, their special operations team trains for these types of situations.
Article and Video:
www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=5107833