On a recent afternoon in Dunlap, an urgent call summoned the local fire department to a scene that must have felt familiar yet strange to the man they set out to rescue. The Dunlap Fire Department responded to an emergency involving a retired firefighter from the Northeast who had found himself tangled in a paragliding accident, according to a post on the department's social media page.
The accident occurred on the slopes of Lewis Chapel Mountain, where the man was stranded about 40 feet down with a possible broken ankle. In a display of interdepartmental cooperation, Piney VFD offered mutual aid as volunteer firefighters worked diligently to set up a haul system. Once completed, the patient was secured within a basket, then painstakingly brought back up to solid ground, as detailed in the post made by the Dunlap Fire Department's Facebook page.
The man, whose background as a firefighter may have helped him endure the ordeal, was evaluated by Puckett EMS after his rescue. Despite the potential seriousness of his injuries, he declined ambulance transport, choosing instead to seek medical attention on his own by POV. The Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Department also assisted during the rescue. Photographs taken by Dunlap firefighters and sheriff’s deputies document the careful process undertaken to ensure the victim’s safety.
