High drama: Firefighter rescues woman atop crane in Toronto
TORONTO — A woman who spent hours suspended high above a construction site after scaling a crane in downtown Toronto was rescued by being strapped to a rappelling firefighter and lowered to the ground as dozens watched in suspense from below.
Cheers erupted from onlookers as the pair’s feet hit the ground at about 8:30 a.m. ET Wednesday, bringing the dramatic, hours-long rescue operation to a safe conclusion.
The woman, identified by police as Marisa Lazo, 23, was then handcuffed and handed over to paramedics. Lazo faces six counts of mischief by interfering with property and is to appear in court today.
Lazo’s perilous climb remained a mystery to those tasked with retrieving her, with firefighters saying there was no indication at to why she scaled the crane in the middle of the night.
They believe, however, that she climbed up the crane, crawled out on to the end of it, and slid down a cable to the large pulley device, where she got stranded.
“She has to tell me how she did it, because she has to be our new training officer for high-angle [rescue] because it’s impressive,” said firefighter Rob Wonfor, who rappelled down the towering machinery with her.
“It was hard enough for me to go up with ropes and harnesses — and she free-climbed that.”
Wonfor said he didn’t ask Lazo for an explanation during the rescue because they needed to stay focused. But he noted that she didn’t seem frightened and was “very calm.”