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    Monday, December 02, 2024

    Norwich firefighters rescue man trapped in car on steep hill

    A view from the top of a retaining wall on the edge of a parking lot at Summitwoods Apartments shows a car that rolled off the edge of the wall, down an embankment, and was held up by two trees on Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Daniel Drainville/The Day)
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    Norwich ― Firefighters rescued a 29-year-old man late Thursday whose car had fallen down a steep hill at Summitwoods Apartments on Summitwoods Drive.

    Norwich Battalion Chief Patrick Curtin said the injured man was evaluated by American Ambulance paramedics and taken to the hospital.

    Curtin said firefighters received a report at 10:22 p.m. of someone trapped inside a car that was down an embankment.

    After arriving, he said they found one man in the car, which had rolled through a chain link fence, off a retaining wall at the edge of the apartment complex parking lot, then continued about five feet down the embankment. The car was held up by two trees before it was able to roll down a hill approximately 100 feet to Summit Drive below. There were two houses at the base of the hill.

    Curtin said firefighters stabilized the car with jacks placed lower down the hill, and cables, before extracting the man and lowering him down the hill with ropes and a Stokes rescue basket.

    He was in stable condition and was taken to Backus Hospital for evaluation.

    Curtin said a towing company would likely use a crane-like device to get the car out of the trees, and that Norwich police are still investigating the incident to find out how the car got down there.

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