Batman Drives a Ladder Truck
No Batmobile? Send the ladder truck to the Batcave
It doesn't have a Bat-ray, Bat Beam, Batcomputer, Bat-turn lever, smoke screen or Bat-tering Ram, but the Los Angeles Fire Department ladder truck got the job done Tuesday near the Batcaves.
Firefighters used the ladder truck to rescue a visiting Oregonian whose curiousity got him into trouble.
The man was stuck on a steep hillside in Bronson Canyon, just above one of the "caves" used as the batcave in the 1960s "Batman" series. The 22-year-old man told firefighters he just wanted to see what was at the top.
Crews positioned the ladder truck at the base of the hill. A firefighter climbed the ladder, then escorted the man back down the ladder.
People get themselves into the same position in Bronson Canyon several times each year. The department has a few rescue options available.
Plan A: Extend the 100 foot aerial ladder. If the ladder doesn't reach, turn to Plan B.
Plan B: Sending an urban search and rescue team to the top of the cliff with ropes and harnesses. If needed, they go down the cliff until they can put a harness around the subject, then lower him to a waiting ladder.
Plan C: Launch the chopper. It's the most dangerous and difficult because the rotors of the helicopter hovering above can send loose shale and brush down upon the person being rescued.
That's why Plan C is always the final option, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Fortunately for the stranded visitor, Plan A worked out fine. Although the department also called out 44 firefighters, a hovering helicopter and an urban search and rescue team -- just in case.
That beats a modified Lincoln Futura.
The rescue took about 45 minutes, Humphrey said.
The "caves" are quarry pits that date to 1903 and have been used in hundreds of movies dating to the 1920s.
