Rescue in the Sky!

**This story is based on an actual event.  Neil is my father and he told me of this Rescue that he performed when he worked at Kitt Peak.  I am not sure of the exact date of this rescue but I think it was in the late 60's.  I hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoying hearing him tell it over dinner one evening in 2013.** 

RESCUE IN THE SKY

Neil was in his early thirties when he moved with his wife and three kids from his hometown in Beaumont, Texas to Tucson, Arizona. When Neil lived in Texas he was a firefighter.  He loved his job and all the excitement that came with being a fireman. In Tucson the fire department wasn’t hiring so after trying a few odd jobs Neil went to work for Kitt Peak National Observatory.   You can find their website here @  http://www.noao.edu/kpno/

Kitt Peak National Observatory is a facility built on the tallest peak in southern Arizona.  Kitt Peak has huge telescopes pointed toward the dark night skies in the Arizona Desert. Scientist from all over the world travel to Kitt Peak to observe and study the stars to learn and discover new and exciting things about this amazing world we live in. Kitt Peak was founded in 1958 and in the late sixties when Neil was working there it was still in the process of building new telescopes and buildings in the complex. 

Neil was hired to be a supervisor in charge of the custodian department.  He took pride in his job. Always doing his best to inspire and help those that worked under him.  At that time there was a single fire truck on the mountain and everyone who worked on the mountain was told that if there was ever an emergency they should turn the siren on the fire truck to alert the rest of the community that there was an emergency. 

One normal day everyone was busy working on their projects. The cooks were cooking, the scientist were sleeping waiting for the evening hours when they could study the stars in the dark of night, the custodians were cleaning, the construction workers building, the painters were painting. There was always a lot of work to keep the telescopes clean and spotless.

Jimmy was a painter. He had been hired by the contractor to repaint the outside walls of the big solar telescope. The solar telescope is a huge telescope that the scientists use to study the sun. 

Jimmy got to work and hooked on his safety belt, climbed up the scaffolding, three stories in all and climbed into the safety basket and pulled himself up 65 feet in the air to start painting. He thought he tied the basket tightly but for some reason his counter weight came undone. The next thing Jimmy knew he was falling down and falling down fast. His safety belt caught him and jerked him out of the safety basket and left him dangling in the air about 60 feet from the ground while his safety basket kept falling till it finally stopped about 20 feet below him.

Another worker happened to see Jimmy when he fell and ran to the building where Neil was working to tell him of the fall. Neil jumped on the fire truck, turned on the siren and quickly drove to the big telescope. He left the siren going and ran to see Jimmy dangling in the air from his safety belt. 

Neils’ firefighting training kicked in and he immediately sprang into action. Neil quickly instructed the others to help pull the scaffolding over and under the safety basket. Neil then climbed the scaffolding and grabbed the end of a rope that was hanging from the safety basket. Neil then climbed the dangling rope hand over hand about 30 feet up and got in the safety basket. Then he pulled himself and the basket to where Jimmy was dangling in the air. Neil asked Jimmy if he was ok and after checking that Jimmy was alright Neil pulled Jimmy into the basket and cut Jimmy loose from his safety belt that had left him dangling from the tall telescope. The other workers had brought a big ladder and set it up on the scaffolding. Neil let the basket down to the ladder and he and Jimmy climbed down the ladder and then down the scaffolding to safety. 

Neil went back to work, not realizing the impact his heroic efforts had on the rest of the community. Word spread quickly on the mountain and the story of the “Rescue in the Sky” reached the Superintendent.

The next day the Superintendent called Neil into his office. He told Neil that because of his heroic efforts they decided to double his salary and put him in charge of not only the custodian department but also the cooks and the fire department.

Once again Neil was doing the job that he loved!