Orland Fire Protection District rescues man from road rainwater sewer
By the Orland Fire Protection District
Photo shows OFPD firefighters training for pipe/sewer rescue situation during training sessions held at the Fire District this past summer (2014).
The Orland Fire Protection District (OFPD) responded to an emergency call on Saturday night Dec. 27 at around 5:20 pm from a man who reported that he had fallen into a road water sewer along Harlem Avenue between 143rd and 151st Street, according to OFPD officials.
Harlem Avenue was closed for about two hours by Orland Park Police as rescuers found the man, who had dropped straight down into the rain water sewer and became stuck with serious injuries. The man fell about 20 feet down into the water sewer, OFPD officials said.
The man was returning to his car which was parked near 151st and Harlem when he stepped into the pipe and fell in. It took firefighters about 10 to 15 minutes to locate the man in the sewer pipe near 145th and Harlem Avenue on the side of the road.
Rescue personnel searched along Harlem Avenue for about 25 minutes. The search also included emergency response teams from the Cook County Sheriff’s Department and the Cook County Forest Preserve District.
Orland Firefighters used a specialized rescue team which trains specifically to rescue individuals from pipes. Using a variety of ropes and air pressure equipment, it took about 70 minutes before emergency responders were able to remove the man from the pipe.
Police had closed off Harlem Avenue to traffic between 143rd Street and 151st Street.
Fire officials said the man was fortunate to have his cell phone on him. It would not have been easy for anyone to see or hear his distress calls along that stretch of Harlem Avenue which is in the forest preserve areas.
The man was taken to Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn for treatment where he was treated for multiple injuries. He is reported in good condition.
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Ray Hanania
In 1976, he was hired by the Chicago community newspaper The Southtown Economist (Daily Southtown) and in 1985 was hired by the Chicago Sun-Times and covered Chicago City Hall for both. In 1993, he launched the “The Villager” Newspapers which covered 12 Southwest Chicagoland suburban regions. He hosted a live weekend Radio Show on WLS AM radio from 1980 through 1991, and also on WBBM FM, WLUP FM and shows on WSBC AM in Chicago and WNZK AM in Detroit.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media;In 2009, he received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. Hanania has also received two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild, and in 1990 was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
Hanania’s writings have been published in newspapers around the world. He currently is syndicated through Creators Syndicate. He has written for the Jerusalem Post, YNetNews.com, Newsday in New York, the Orlando Sentinel, the Houston Chronicle, The Daily Star of Lebanon, the News of the World in London, the Daily Yomimuri in Tokyo, Chicago Magazine, the Arlington Heights Daily Herald, The Saudi Gazette, the Arab News in Jeddah, and Aramco Magazine.
Hanania's Chicagoland political columns are published in the Southwest News-Herald, the Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News and the Palos Reporter newspapers.
Hanania is the President/CEO of Urban Strategies Group media and public affairs consulting which has clients in Illinois, Florida, Michigan and Washington D.C.
His personal website is www.TheMediaOasis.com. Email him at: [email protected].
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