Hamilton fire conduct rope rescue at Tew’s Falls

A man in his 20s was admitted to hospital on Sunday afternoon after a fall at the Spencer Gorge Conservation Area.

Hamilton Fire executed a rope rescue just before 1:00 pm in an area around Tew’s Falls after someone fell off one of the paths and down an embankment.

“The patient was located and successfully retrieved and turned over to EMS,” Shawn De Jager from Hamilton Fire told Global News.

Paramedics supervisor Dave Thompson said the man was “conscious and alert” when transported to hospital.

“He was sent to a trauma centre after a tumbling fall,” Thompson said.

“Transported in stable condition with bumps and bruises, and other injuries consistent with a fall.”

The rescue saw as many as 10 emergency units dispatched to the scene on Sunday.

Earlier this year, Hamilton Fire revealed to city councillors that emergency crews responded to 16 rope rescue calls in 2020, up nine from the seven recorded in 2019.

Hamilton fire Chief Dave Cunliffe said the bulk of the rescues happened in the Dundas area, at Tews and Webster’s Falls, in the Albion Falls area and even in “hiking areas in the Waterdown area, for example.”

“Just the fact that people are wanting to get out into nature and enjoy some of that fresh air, and they’re getting off the beaten paths where they’re supposed to stay,” Cunliffe said.