By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
FHSU University Relations

They remember walking across the bridge when they were students at Fort Hays State University.

But this was a whole different deal, hanging from a pair of ropes from the pedestrian bridge across Big Creek near Cunningham Hall.

Members of the “C” shift of the City of Hays Fire Department rescue team spent Monday morning participating in a high-angle training exercise, and the “A” and “B” shifts are scheduled to do the same later this week.

The fire department conducts training in a different discipline each month, and the high-angle exercise can be performed from a structure about 8 to 10 feet high. However, “the higher it is, the more realistic it is,” said firefighter Tim Detrixhe, the training coordinator for the rescue team.

Firefighters have done similar exercises off FHSU’s Wiest Hall before, but Detrixhe said he came up with the idea for using the university’s Cunningham pedestrian bridge while out for a stroll one day.

“I see this bridge all the time; it’s where I walk my dog,” said Detrixhe, a 2009 graduate of FHSU who is in his fourth year with the local fire department. “To rappel off in a harness, the structure has to be tall and sturdy and have an anchor point for your rope. This is perfect.”

Although he isn’t keen on heights, Lucas Everett volunteered to be the first one to don the harness apparatus before going over the edge of the bridge.

“I have the same feeling every time I do this: apprehension,” Everett said. “It’s not natural to go off something this tall and hang in the air. Some people live for this, and there are others — well, we do it because it’s part of the job.”

After numerous safety checks on his harness and rope fasteners, firefighters on the bridge carefully — and slowly — lowered Everett to the ground about 35 feet below.

“There’s no reason to rush training,” Detrixhe said. “Movie rappel and real-life rappel are not the same thing. They go flying off a building in the movies; that’s not how it’s done in real life.”

Next up was Allison Friesen, the only female on the Hays Fire Department squad. Friesen, a 2009 FHSU graduate, appeared to take more of a liking hanging in midair.

Capt. Aaron Ditter, another Fort Hays State alum who has been with the Hays Fire Department for nearly 20 years, fed the rope of the main line through a brake bar rack in preparation for lowering Friesen. In addition to the main line, a safety backup line also is attached to the firefighters.

Friesen went one step further than Everett, inverting her body for several minutes to hook another rope line to a 90-pound weight. The weight, which had been lowered earlier, simulated a victim that Friesen was rescuing.

Because there weren’t enough firefighters on hand — some of the “C” shift crew were responding to a medical emergency in town — those present at the training didn’t attempt to raise their rescuer and her “patient” to safety.

Instead, once Friesen had her feet firmly on the ground, she released her ropes and began making her way back onto the bridge via the stairs.

“Good job,” Detrixhe called down to Friesen.

“That was a good time,” Friesen said with a smile.

Detrixhe said that while the high-angle rescue exercise has always has been on the department’s training agenda, it’s even more important now because “of the thousands of wind towers in our response area.”

“This is a low-frequency, high-risk rescue,” he said. “There’s a low frequency that we would have one of these type rescues, but if we do, it’s going to be something pretty major. So we put a lot of emphasis on this. You only get one shot to get it right.”

The Hays Fire Department’s primary coverage area is the City of Hays, but it also has mutual aid agreements within Ellis County and other adjoining counties.

“And our technical rescue team can respond to anywhere in northwest Kansas, in our regional area,” Detrixhe said.

Last week, Detrixhe contacted FHSU’s Mandy Ricke, who coordinates schedules for a variety of activities on campus, and he asked if he could use the bridge for the rescue team’s training exercise.

Ricke then got the OK from the FHSU police department, grounds department, athletics and facilities planning.

“This is a great place for this,” Dextrixhe said. “It’s close to the road, a nice clean area, wide open, and the students aren’t back to school yet. So this worked really well.”