Paraglider Trapped in Power Lines for 3 Hours Rescued in Northern California
A paraglider in Northern California was rescued on Wednesday night after he attempted to land and became entangled in some power lines.
The man, who has not been identified, spent three hours dangling face down from the power lines, according to footage shared by Fox 40 News.
The paraglider got stuck around 5 p.m., the station reported, in lines about 40 miles north of Sacramento in Olivehurst, California, when he was trying to land at the Yuba County airport.
He was still strapped into his paragliding harness as first responders worked on getting him free.
Fox 40 News reported that the responding crews were taking their time to get the man loose because his life was not in immediate danger, and they wanted to get him down safely considering his precarious location.
Power was cut in the area while the responders worked, the Associated Press reported.
“The difficulty was making sure that the lines were de-energized to make sure that our firefighters were safe before we could make patient contact,” said Olivehurst Fire Department Battalion Chief Randy York, according to the AP. “Letting him know to stay in contact with the aircraft and not to reach out and touch us so that the aircraft stayed still.”
The man, who had been paragliding as part of a training exercise, was miraculously not seriously injured and was able to communicate with the first responders throughout the ordeal, Fox 40 News pointed out.
“He’s exhausted, but all his vitals seem to be stable,” York added.
York did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
