Topeka firefighters early Aug. 22 hoisted a man who'd been hit by a train up from railroad tracks onto the Westgate Bridge, a fire department supervisor said Aug. 28.
The fire department wasn't making public the name and age of the man, whom shift commander Travis Thompson said suffered injuries that weren't life-threatening.
Topeka firefighters were called about 2:20 a.m. to the scene, where they found the man on tracks beneath the bridge, in an area characterized by difficult terrain and limited access, Thompson said.
The department's technical rescue team used special rescue techniques to lift the man from the tracks to the bridge deck, Thompson said. An American Medical Response ambulance then took him to a Topeka hospital.
The rescue came one day after Topeka Fire Department crews completed hands-on training with the University of Kansas Fire & Rescue Training Institute, Thompson said.
That training gave firefighters a chance to practice "specialized rescue skills used during technical rescue operations," he said.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at 785-213-5934 or [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka firefighters use recent training to rescue man hit by train