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Heroic Colorado Firefighter Rappels Down Into 30 Foot Sinkhole To Rescue Person Who Fell In

LEADVILLE, Colo. (CBS4) - An extensive rescue mission was launched in Leadville late Saturday to get someone out of a 30 foot deep sinkhole. Just after 6 p.m. Leadville/Lake County Fire Rescue responded to a storage facility at the intersection of 2nd Street and Plum Street where the hole had opened up and a person had fallen in.

leadville sinkhole
(credit: Leadville Fire)

Firefighter Alex Conlin jumped into action, rappeling down from a ladder that was placed over the top of the hole to the individual. Leadville/Lake County Fire Rescue wrote that "the bottom of this pit had substantial ice and water creating a very cold situation as well as unstable edges and sides of the pit."

Conlin used safety gear to secure the person to a line attached to a fire truck and worked to make sure neither of them sunk further into the hole. The person who fell had been badly injured.

sinkhole
(credit: Leadville Fire)

Search and rescue arrived and helped pull Conlin and that person out a little over 90 minutes later. Both were treated for hypothermia and the patient was airlifted to a Denver metro area hospital.

In a news release, Conlin's response when asked about his actions was "Risk a lot to save a lot, risk a little to save a little, risk nothing to save nothing."

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