Chartiers first responders rescue 90-year-old man and dog
Courtesy of Canonsburg Volunteer Fire Department
Chartiers and Canonsburg firefighters and personnel work to rescue a 90-year-old man after a car accident.
Courtesy of Canonsburg Volunteer Fire Department
The damaged vehicle from which an elderly Chartiers Township man was rescued after the car went over a hillside
A 90-year-old man and his dog were rescued from a ravine in Chartiers Township last week after the man’s car plummeted down a steep hillside.
The man, whose name was not available, was pulled from the car Thursday after firefighters, police and emergency medical personnel worked their way down an approximately 100-foot embankment with dense foliage to reach his car.
Firefighters placed the man in a rescue basket and then lowered him another 75 to 100 feet, where rescuers and an ambulance were waiting.
The man was taken by ambulance to AHN Canonsburg Hospital and later transported to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment of facial and other injuries, according to Chartiers Township Lt. Robert Fetty.
The dog was not injured.
According to Fetty, the man’s car was in the garage at his Valley Road home and traveled through the back yard and down the hill, finally coming to a rest when the rear of the vehicle struck a tree.
“I don’t know how he managed to end up down there through all of the trees. There was extensive damage to the rear of the car. The hill was quite a steep incline. He actually held onto his dog the whole way down,” Fetty said Monday.
Fetty said the man’s granddaughter called 911 shortly after 2 p.m., after she noticed he and the car were gone.
He was conscious and alert when rescuers reached him.
“I told him it looked like he had a black eye, and he said it’s the first one he’s had in 90 years,” said Fetty. “He was worried about his dog. It was a cute little dog – the dog was scared to death but all right.”
Fetty said access to the rescue site was difficult. The ambulance was waiting at Falconi Ballfields off Cecil Street.
“It was challenging because the hill was so steep it was hard to get footing. It was hard for them to get down and then to get back up,” said Fetty. “Also, there were a lot of leaves on the ground and it was a slip hazard.”
Fetty did not have an update on the man’s condition Monday.