Firefighters Rescue Naked Man from Florida Drawbridge
May 22--FORT LAUDERDALE -- A naked man who became trapped 80-feet in the air on a six-foot square metal platform atop a raised railroad drawbridge in sweltering heat for more than two hours Friday was rescued by a pair of Fort Lauderdale firefighters.
The unidentified man -- who may have been bathing in the New River before climbing out of the water onto the bridge -- was described as paranoid and agitated during the rescue, said Deputy Fire Rescue Chief Timothy Heiser.
"He denied any drug use," Heiser said. "Initially when we got here he wasn't very cooperative, he didn't want anyone to come near him and he didn't want to be rescued."
Heiser stopped short of concluding the potent hallucinogen flakka may have played a role in the man's behavior.
Veteran Tactical Rescue Team members David Bassion and Richard Olympio scaled the upright tracks and eventually persuaded him to climb off his perch so he could be harnessed to the bridge which was slowly lowered to the down position shortly before 11 a.m.
"Every time he moved, all of us that were on scene our hearts stopped, wondering if he's getting up to jump," Heiser said. "You don't know what his state of mind is."
At least one witness who frequently jogs in the area recognized the man on the bridge as a local homeless person.
David Izabal, 44, said he was on his usual morning run about 8:30 a.m. when he noticed a naked man in the New River.
"He was swimming in the water previously and he jumped out of the water and went to cross the bridge," he said.
The naked man had almost crossed the length of the drawbridge when the structure began to rise up.
"The bridge was coming up before he had gotten off," Izabal said.
He said he recognized the naked man as someone he occasionally sees at a downtown spot near the river where homeless people typically congregate.
Rescue crews spent the first part of the morning at the base of the drawbridge trying to determine a strategy to safely get the man down.
The Florida East Coast railway drawbridge spans the New River along the 100 block of Southwest Second Street, just west of Andrews Avenue.
Shortly before 10 a.m., Bassion climbed a ladder and then scaled the remainder of the bridge to reach the naked man and give him a white towel to cover himself.
Olympio joined them when Bassion appeared to have difficulty talking the man down.
"Working with the Fort Lauderdale police negotiating team, they kept the patient calm," Heiser said. "We worked with the bridge tenders to slowly lower the bridge and then move the patient."
He was taken to Broward Health Medical Center as a precaution, he said.
"He could have passed out," Heiser said. "[He was sitting on] a piece of steel that's in the Florida midday sun and it had to be hot."
The incident is similar to one that happened in October of 2013 when a 55-year-old woman taking part in a 5K walk got stuck on the same bridge. In that case, however, the woman was in the middle of the structure and Fort Lauderdale firefighters were able to use a long ladder to reach her.
On an average weekday, about 17 north and southbound trains pass over what is known as the Fort Lauderdale bridge on runs between Miami and FEC headquarters in Jacksonville, FEC officials have said.
The bridges are in an upright position most of the time to allow boats to pass. They are lowered prior to a train's arrival by an FEC dispatcher who monitors rail traffic.
wkroustan@tribpub.com or 954-356-4303
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