You may think of firefighters as battling flames, but what a group of Fort Worth firefighters did this week put them hundreds of feet in the air on top of a crane. They came together to rescue a man in his time of need.
Stuck 22 stories above the ground, the crane operator was unable to get down on his own. Firefighters rescued him Wednesday evening in Fort Worth, but what wasn’t immediately clear was how historic the night would become.
“We were up there for the first time,” Fort Worth Fire Department Engineer Caleb Crow said.
The group of firefighters from Station 2 in downtown Fort Worth responded to a unique call that landed them more than 200 feet off the ground.
“Once they arrived on scene, they realized that this particular EMS call was happening on top of a crane,” Crow said.
Operator suffers medical emergency
The crane operator had a medical emergency while working at a site across from JPS Hospital and became stranded 220 feet above Fort Worth. Firefighter Alerah Turpin guided the man down.
“You don’t really have time to think, ‘Oh my gosh, I am so high up on the ground right now!’ It’s like we’re here for someone else, you know? We’re here for his life,” Turpin said.
Firefighter continues family legacy
We first met Turpin in 2024 when she graduated from the Fort Worth Fire Academy.
“My grandfather, he is a lieutenant here at the Fort Worth Fire Department,” Turpin said.
They became the first grandchild‑grandparent pair to work together in the department’s 131‑year history. Turpin’s grandfather, Lt. Mike Walters, has worked for the department since 1988.
“It is a breath of fresh air and is so good to know that our training pays off and we are able to do that kind of stuff,” Turpin said. “We don’t just fight fires.”
Teamwork guides high‑angle rescue
The training helped prepare her to be one of four firefighters who climbed the crane to rescue the operator. Engineer Morgan Hix, Firefighter Monty Bryant, and Firefighter Rick Aguilar joined Turpin on the crane. Crow helped guide them from the ground.
“You just think about getting that person down in the safest way possible in the quickest way possible while being safe and making sure that we can have a positive impact on the person’s life,” Hix said.
“To see our crew do what they did and the way they did it, it’s an incredibly proud moment for all of us what work here,” Crow said.
“To be able to do an operation like this that you do not see every day, it is just awesome to know that we are fully capable of doing anything,” Turpin said.
Future training may follow rescue
The crane operator is expected to be okay thanks to the group of firefighters who answered the call without hesitation.
The fire department may work with the crane company, J.E. Dunn Construction Group, to help train firefighters for future crane rescues.