The Snohomish County Technical Rescue Team, including members from the Lynnwood Fire Department, Fire District 1 and the Everett Fire Department, conducted a technical rescue drill on the crane building the CityCenter Apartment buildings on 196th Street Southwest across the street from the Lynnwood Convention Center.

Crews climbed up the 125-foot crane to hoist a dummy down. The situation they were given is that the dummy was the “crane operator” who was experiencing chest pain and felt like he was going to pass out, so he couldn’t climb down the crane on his own.

The crew that climbed the crane strapped the dummy to a rescue basket and carefully lowered to a crew waiting below.

Lynnwood Fire Chief Scott Cockrum said this practice is important as development increases in the area — but practicing is not the only benefit of the drill.

“One of our biggest challenges when we come to a call like this is we don’t have a relationship with the workers where we are responding,” Cockrum said. “This gives us a chance to build that relationship. It’s about partnership and working together.”

The crane had to close for several hours Thursday for the training, but Exxel Project Safety Coordinator Mike Shafer said it is worth it.

“We’re happy to provide this opportunity for training,” Shafer said. “It’s beneficial to everyone.”

–Story and photos by Natalie Covate