Firefighter speaks out after rescuers save woman hanging from cliff above Pacific Ocean
A California fire department made headlines earlier this week after rescuers helped save a woman who became stuck on a California cliff, in an incident that was captured on camera.
San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Mariano Elias told ABC News the unidentified woman was swimming near San Francisco's Ocean Beach on Wednesday when a current started pulling her away from shore.
"She was taken by the current further away from her entry point," Elias said. "When she realized she was getting pulled away from where she came in, she decided to go to the rocks and try to climb up the rocks themselves."
When first responders arrived on scene, they said the woman was clinging to steep cliffside rocks, just above the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean.
A helicopter from ABC station KGO captured the rescue as it unfolded.
In the footage, a firefighter can be seen rappelling down a cliff to reach the woman, while other firefighters secure the rope cables at the top of the cliff. The woman is then harnessed to the rope cable and given a safety helmet to wear.
"She leaned back and trusted the ropes," Elias said of the rescue process, adding that firefighters "secured her to make sure that she wouldn't fall, in the event of her slipping off the rocks any further."
In the video, both the woman and the firefighter are able to climb upward to safety, and other firefighters pull them up at the top.
Elias said the woman was "evaluated after our crew members rescued her."
"She declined any further medical treatment but did thank our crew members," Elias said. "The SFFD trains daily for situations like this and are always prepared for any type of incident."
