Man rescued from Scarborough Bluffs after falling 7 metres, becoming trapped

Toronto firefighters rescued a man in his 20s who was trapped under the Scarborough Bluffs on Wednesday morning.

Crews were called to the escarpment at around 6:45 a.m., when a passerby heard someone yelling for help and called emergency services.

Toronto fire, paramedics and police services arrived at the scene to find a man stuck under the bluffs. He had fallen around seven metres (or 25 ft.) and was trapped there since 2 a.m., Toronto Fire said.

"He was hanging onto a tree down there and also his leg was trapped," said Toronto Fire District Chief Bryce McDonald.

"We set up a full high-angle rescue with approximately 25 personnel," he said. "It took us about an hour and we were able to bring him up successfully."

McDonald said he's not sure what led to the man falling and becoming trapped but said "he must have been walking on one of the trails on the wrong side of the fence in the dark [and] fell over the side."

Tony Cardinale was one of the firefighters involved in the rescue and said the man was lucky he didn't fall further.

"[The man] got caught in some branches that broke on his way [down] but they actually held him up on a small ridge. Probably saved his life," he said.

Police said the man hurt his leg and back and was taken to a trauma centre in serious condition.

McDonald says incidents like this happen quite often and they continue to try to educate the public to be careful on the escarpment.

"Please stay away from the bluffs," he said.

"Don't climb them, don't go to the edge because we don't really want to have to come to rescue you. [It's] too dangerous for everybody."