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Someone jumped the TV tower last night and got caught on the guy wires. Rescue cut him down and news reported that he is in serious condition. KTVU TV 06:50am.

Best wishes.

Discussion going on in The Bonfire with links to the news articles. (In case anyone hasn't seen it).

More discussion here.

News report here.

Bonfire thread here.

To add to Yuri's post in the other thread about this jumper:

It ought to be pretty much impossible to strike a terminal tower. Not only do you have plenty of time to track away, but you also ought to have any available wind blowing you away from object strike.

However, I know that this tower is sometimes jumped into the upwind sectors. I have no idea why, as there is clear landing in all 3 quadrants. But I have seen, on multiple occasions, jumpers exiting into the upwind quadrant when the wind shifts. Apparently, they haven't realized that you can walk around and jump the downwind side, no matter which direction the wind is blowing. I have had a couple of mystifying (to me) conversations with jumpers at this tower who told me that they were jumping the upwind side because "that's the side we jump". You can read my (rather angry) account of one such incident here.


Although I do not know what happened specifically in this case, the weather history for Walnut Grove shows the wind from a non-standard direction. From these facts, I would guess that the jumper exited into an upwind quadrant and was blown back into the guy wires.


Safety note to all: Always jump towers into the downwind quadrants. Change the direction of exit to maintain a downwind exit, so that the wind helps move you away from the tower, rather than blowing you toward it.

The Houston crew has jumped a heckuva bunch of towers with all sorts of configurations and we've never had trouble finding a way to put ourselves off on the downwind side of an object.

Jumping into the wind, unless it's so light as to be almost non-existent, is mind-bogglingly stupid. Not saying that's what happened here, just following up on some previous posts.

In any event, yeah I agree that on a terminal tower it's pretty difficult to have an object strike if you track far enough out and pull low enough.

"BASE jumping is illegal in California".

What a load of crap. It's time we tell these irresponsible reporters that they need to do some research before they falsely report that BASE is illegal. I just got off the phone with Life Magazine for a story about Bridge Day where I demanded they change the same type of false verbage.

 

 
I mentioned this in the bonfire thread, but this particular site, like a few others across the U.S. is posted with signage that says, "No Parachuting by Law." (Or at least it was the last time I was there). There is also a certain R/R bridge in Texas that's posted likewise. I believe these are local ordinances, but none the less . . .

NickD
BASE 194

 
>>Hey Tom, looks like John is giving you a run for your money for the worst BASE saftey record!

Details are still sketchy, but it sounds as if he was climbing, didn't reach the top, and exited from somewhere lower. Wind was apparently not a factor (light to non-existent), and he had an offheading, resulting in wire strike.

This video report is terrible. I love it when reporters shape the facts to fit their story.

>>This video report is terrible. <<

Oh gawd, that was so bad. But, they were doing it on the "fly" so to speak and it stands as a lesson for everything else you hear on the news . . .

One question I have is about them saying, "they even have their own magazine devoted to BASE jumping . . ."

Gee, I'd subscribe to that . . . LOL!

NickD
BASE 194

thats what "news" is generally like in america? its simply sickening. They turn some persons misery into some kind of show... (not to mention all the things said that are simply wrong)

Have you guys any contact for media, police or rescue when there are necessary? It could be helpful to get the correct information out there when needed. It is maybe not that easy, but still they need to be educated what we are doing, and why we are doing it! Explain why things are going wrong, and how it could have been, if you got more legal access to other sites! People only remember big headlines, and an explanation the week after, is not that impressive, as an excited news reporter, onsite live telling BS.

I also emailed the author and he changed the webpage. In addition, I complained to channel 13 about the "illegal in California" comment on TV and asked for a correction. Sometimes firing off a quick email actually works.

The real problem I see is the perpetuation of our sport being illegal. I'll never forget the day when some out-of-towners hassled me at the Potato Bridge and threatened to call the cops on me for jumping. The media is very powerful and if we don't correct them, nothing will change.

It's human nature. Those who have little or no self-control try instead to control that which is outside themselves.

rl

---

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. C.S. Lewis

---

The scary part I saw in the report is that the first responders had no clue how to get him down, their equipment was inadiquit. and a helo was unrealisitic, then they finally figured out a rope rescue, if you hang long enough in a harness you'll black out due to constriction, If you get stuck, give me a call, Vince

Tower,

I am rather insulted by you cavalier attitude that the rescuers did not have a clue on how to get him down and the equipment we use is not adequate. As a matter of fact I find your comment both ignorant and arrogant. There were actually several plans, but deciding on the one that would not cost a firefighter his life to rescue someone that should have never been in this type of situation anyway.

Let’s put some facts into play:

"If you hang long enough in a harness you'll black out due to constriction" Well he made a choice to jump, were not gonna rush and get killed due to his poor judgment.

1) Its night time, this makes the use of helicopters almost non-existent due to the lack of lighting.

2) He is only 200 feet off of the ground on the middle guy wire of that series of three wires. This tower is 2,000 feet tall and there are many other guy wires supporting the tower above. Helicopters do not carry un-limited cable to wench with.

3) He is only 200 feet from the ground, but several hundred feet from the tower.

4) Walnut-grove/Sacramento is an urban area. As a general rule we can perform rope rescue with our ropes. This is not a mountain area that requires rescue companies to carry thousands of feet expensive rope to rescue climbers or other victims trapped on a cliff.

5) Again 200 feet in the air. Ladder truck only reaches 105 feet. I don't have time or the energy to explain why the trucks don't have bigger ladders.

So in the future before you pipe off at the yap you might want to take into consideration the fire departments concerns. Mr. Agnos was performing an illegal and risky BASE jump. The fire department is trying to perform a "SAFE" rescue. You need to have some consideration for the firefighters that risk their lives everyday for normal operations. This is an extreme situation and the firefighter had to free climb the guy wire with sufficient rope to lower to rescuers on the ground (rope and hardware is not light), drop the rope he carried to rescuers below, hand over hand the additional equipment to where they were, rig the lowering system and then affect the rescue.

I am not a BASE jumper, but you all choose to take these risks. When things go wrong you then put others in high risk situations. Yes we chose the profession, but we are going to make sure we perform our operations in a safe manner.

 It's been my experience that most fire departments are not trained or have equipment to preform such a rescue. I think that I can have a cavalier attitude about this, I have in the past had to preform a similar kind of rescue with my own rigging after calling 911 to get someone injured off a tower @ 385', another time we where called to a site to help with a recovery @ 160 after a mishap, we ended up having the guys work buddy's do that also while the fire department more or less watched and learned. I know of many other incidents where this is the case also. I could of had him down with my own "in house crew" or even a group of BASE friends in less than a hour, and I wouldn't of had to break out my big winches or put anyone in harms way. I was just giving my thoughts on the interview clip I saw. That must have been you doing that interview? Sorry I stepped on your feelings after your 15 minutes of glory.

I always feel that the second my feet leave the edge, I lose all rights to comment on the quality of a rescue operation.

Maybe there are people out there that could have done a better job at it, but in this case that weren't the people who are willing to be on call 24 hours a day, risking their lives for a below average wage.

There is only so much we can ask from our fire-fighters and EMTs, and I think their time training is better spend on common traffic accidents and kitchen injuries than on the rare occurence of a BASE jumper stuck on a wire.

All,

Remember that TowerTopper is a professional in the tower construction field.

When he says "call me" he may not mean "call your average BASE jumper." It's more likely he is speaking from a professional standpoint, and pointing out that tower professionals are experienced and practiced at these kind of situations.

Seen in that light, it's pretty reasonable to say "the fire department probably should have called in some tower professionals who had experience at these kinds of situations."

Clicky

This has been done before. The rescue guys worked their asses of to get him down. The final answer to the "get him down" dilema came from the boss of "the hanger", not the Fire Department. For mainstream rescue workers this does NOT fit into standard rescue practice.

Humm,
Me thinks thou hath not a clue about which you speak.
I'm from a tiny tiny little ass crack of a town way out in the middle of fucking no where, and even we have a very well trained and very well equiped TRT team. I know. I was on it for 6 years.

post deleted by request of original poster ~TA

Actually, as far as I know TowerTopper erects towers for a living, so the chances he does know what he's talking about are fairly big.

He is also correct in stating that there are people out there who would have been able to rescue John more efficiently.

However, what TowerTopper overlooked in my opinion is that the people that are standing by 24 hours a day and seven days a week to help us, might not consider wire rescues their first priority. Their time (and my tax-money) is much better spend on training for more common occurences like traffic accidents or kitchen injuries.

I agree with you (Feeblemind) that TowerTopper's wording may have come off a little abrasive, given the circumstances. However, your personal attack in retaliation does little to improve the situation.

I personally believe that whoever managed to get John of that wire safely did a phenomenal job, and I hope John agrees with me on this. There may be people out there that can do a better job, but until they are willing to step up and do this job or offer free training to fire-departments across the country, these people should not complain.

Two cents...

That would qualify as a personal attack. Boy you're lucky I'm not a moderator or else you'd be taking a vacation.

Furthermore, in the future, you may consider that you'll catch more flies with honey. Once you resort to childish attacks and name calling, your opinions are weakeded considerably.

So as to the rest of your post, I didn't even read past the personal attack. I imagine there are plenty others who post in this forum who think the same as I do.

Come on. You know the rules around here. I'm banning you from this forum for 14 days.

If you read between the lines (or perhaps on the lines) you will see that John appears to have few friends in the Northern California BASE community, and that thus, he was apparently solo on this load.

This is a response from Feeblemind, which I am posting by his request:

Or maybe the guy who was hanging there should have called in some tower professionals instead of calling the fire department, if that was the obvious thing to do. It sounds to me like the fire dept. did the best job that they possibly could, given the situation. I wouldn't criticize what they did, especially looking at the fact that they had to rescue some person who put himself in a precarious situation while committing a crime.

Emergency services of whatever kind regularly call in outside experts to help with situations they lack expertise in.

It sounds like they considered all of their options, and it sounds like they made the right choice since they got him down safely.

>>especially looking at the fact that they had to rescue some person who put himself in a precarious situation while committing a crime.<<

I jumped on jOnes so I have to jump on you too, Keely, however I'm sure it will be a more pleasurable experience . . .

There have always been weird laws on the books and I'm hoping someday we'll see laws against parachuting on non-private property just as silly as the below listed ones. While I won’t dare compare the civil rights movement with laws against BASE jumping this is apropos while Rosa Parks lies in state in our nation's capital. There are all kinds of ways to get laws changed. Some write letters, some carry signs, and some like us, and like Rosa, just keep breaking the law because we don’t believe in their validity.

These are some of the various laws that were, or still are, on the books in various states of this country. I see these as the worst kind of ordinances as they are mostly agenda driven by small minded people and have nothing whatever to do with the public good. Okay, except maybe for not letting the blind guy hunt . There should be laws prohibiting bank robbery, but no way should there be laws banning parachuting simply because the powers that be can't comprehend it . . .

-It is illegal for a woman wearing a red dress to be out on the streets after 7 p.m.
-A pickle is not officially a pickle unless it bounces.
-A special law prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday or she shall risk arrest, fine, and/or jailing.
-It is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit.
-A man with a moustache may never kiss a woman in public.
-By law, anyone who has been drinking is "sober" until he or she "cannot hold onto the ground".
-You may not step out of a plane in flight.
-It is legal for the blind to hunt.
-It is illegal to give or receive oral sex.
-It is illegal for more than five women to live in a house.
-It is illegal to kiss anyone of not purely American nationality on the 4th of July.
- It is illegal for a woman to drive a car unless there is a man either running or walking in front of it waving a red flag to warn approaching motorists and pedestrians.

NickD
BASE 194

I see these as the worst kind of ordinances as they are mostly agenda driven by small minded people and have nothing whatever to do with the public good...It is illegal for a woman to drive a car unless there is a man either running or walking in front of it waving a red flag to warn approaching motorists and pedestrians.

Amen brother! Everytime "the gov" kneejerks it causes them more work.

Now I have to go and get some red flags so the wife can drive to the grocery.

911 Tape available here: http://www.theksbwchannel.com/.../5200497/detail.html

Well you're such a charmer, Nick, that you can jump on me any time you like.


I whole-heartedly agree, but my impression was that this particular incident happened on private property(?), and trespassing on private property is not one of the laws that I would like to do away with. I don't particularly want to find a bunch of rowdy BASE jumpers in MY backyard... unless I invited them, of course.


And this is one of the laws that definitely needs to be kept. I always bounce my pickles before eating them.

maybe it's good that they report that it is illegal. it keeps those who are afriad of the law from trying this without training.

if some whuufo thought it was something they would like to try they may just go up with some shit they find at a surplus store. in some instances ignorance is better reported to the ignorant

 

I am an active Nor-Cal jumper and I know this guy (only briefly). He is a complete idiot and far from a responsible jumper. The fact that he is still alive, surprises me! It's so sad about the future of this site, as always, it only takes one fuckin' dumbass to screw it up for all the rest of us!

Happy jumping to all and PLEASE stay responsible and safe out there!!!!!!!

I urge the local crews to put effort into protecting the great objects in the area...... I know there is alot of respect in Nor Cal, and just a handful of jerks ready to ruin it there....