Incident No: 7617
Date: 17-04-2007
Time: 20.05
Details: Bell ringer trapped
Address: Church Lane, Loughton
Attendance: 1 x Loughton, 1 X Chingford, 1 X Harlow (Aerial Ladder Platform)
A 14-year-old boy pulled down on a bell rope and held on too long as the rope went up again. He found himself hoisted into the loft space of the church tower and was trapped.Fire crews were alerted by the Ambulance team called to the scene after the alarm was raised by fellow bell ringers and at 20:29 hours, the officer in charge of the incident reported that a rescue was in progress. The youth was brought down to safety at 20:55hrs.A Harlow firefighter who attended the incident explained: “Apparently the youth held on to the bell too long and went up with it into the bell tower. On the way up he let go and fell onto a platform area in the loft space and suffered thigh, ankle and wrist injuries.”The only way in and out of the tower was via a tight spiral staircase so in the end we didn’t need to use the aerial ladder platform. We strapped the boy to a rescue stretcher – similar to those used in climbing incidents – and lowered him down slowly, step by step.”A crew secured a line to the stretcher to make sure he was safe on the way down and another team was at the bottom of the staircase to ensure the safety of the rescuers.”The boy was taken to hospital by ambulance. We have no further details relating to the casualty.
