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IFD: Water tower rescue was ‘flawless’

ZIONSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — The Indianapolis Fire Department is already conducting training based on the Tuesday rescue of a man who fell into a Zionsville water tower.

It’s because that rescue was flawless, according to department leaders.

It was a 3 1/2 hour operation conducted in the rain, in cold temperatures, and it concluded in the dark.

But it was also something that Indianapolis firefighters had trained for.

Captain Casey Sweeney was in charge of operations on top of the water tower.

“It’s high, high risk for all the guys involved,” he said.

Chief Kevin Jones was on the ground.

“When we’re sitting down below, we have no contact and we can’t see what’s going on,” said Jones. “We can talk to them on the radio but as far as knowing what they’re looking at, what they’re dealing with, it’s stressful.”

And it’s hard work.

Sweeney shared photos of the ropes, clamps, and pulleys that were used in the effort. They were deployed in ways that the tactical rescue team had practiced just the day before in training conducted on a cell phone tower.

This was similar, but different.

“There is no flat, horizontal surface up there,” said Sweeney. “You’re constantly clipping in to get your safety lines in and there are four guys up there, three moving, it was highly involved.”

It was also successful even though it was, in the words of Chief Jones, as dangerous and complicated as it gets.

“I can’t say I’ve ever been more stressed than when he was just leaving that edge going down,” said Sweeney. “He couldn’t get to the ground fast enough for me but the system went flawless.”

“It went really well. There were very few things that were issues,” said Jones. “Next week, we’re gonna get everybody together that was involved and go through it in a more thorough manner.”

And the photos will be part of that training.

Sweeney says he wishes there were more of them but he reached a point where his hands were too cold to take pictures.

The man who was rescued, Todd Pyles, is still hospitalized in good condition.