Mass. Firefighters Rescue Good Samaritan From Under Bridge

LAWRENCE, Mass. -- A Methuen man trying to be a Good Samaritan when he attempted to rescue another man from under a dilapidated train bridge Sunday ended up needing to be rescued himself and is now facing trespassing charges.

Edward Santiago, 29, of 2 Wellington St., Methuen, climbed out onto the substructure of the train bridge near the Great Stone Dam Sunday night when he realized there was someone under there.

Police said Santiago did not know the man, Wilmer Ferrara, 28, of 248 Broadway, who had climbed out onto the span earlier. Ferrara, who has climbed out onto the bridge in the past, was first spotted about 7:30 p.m.

The presence of the two men prompted a rescue effort by local and regional fire and police agencies, including the Essex County Technical Rescue team, a regional agency made up of firefighters.

Eric Pepper, director of the team, said about 20 members of the group responded. He said Santiago had gone down to try to get Ferrara to come back up.

"Then he got stuck and was afraid to move," Pepper said.

Lawrence firefighters lowered a safety belt and rope to Santiago but didn't bring him to the top of the train bridge.

"They had that on him when we arrived," Pepper said.

In conjunction with local firefighters, members of the rescue team set up a rope system and lowered members to Santiago.

"We lowered one of our rescue workers down, put a proper harness on the victim, and brought the two of them back up to the top of the train bridge," Pepper said.

Getting Ferrara out was another story.

"He was uncooperative. We had to cut part of the bridge and shore some areas up."

He said the team erected a tripod system that allowed workers to drop rescuers to the lower part of the train bridge.

"We put two rescuers down in that area," he said. "We were talking with him, building rapport. We tried to get him moving on his own to a safe area.

"Along with the Lawrence Fire Department, which did a nice job, we tried moving him over toward a safe area of the bridge. Once he was over land, and it became a police matter, we were told to break down."

It wasn't until almost 3:30 a.m. that they were done and able to leave the scene, Pepper said.

"We were also concerned about the structural integrity of the bridge," he said.

Throughout the incident, Ferrara was playing a sort of cat-and-mouse game with the rescuers, said Police Chief John Romero.

He said he'd get close to the land, see that there were police standing by, and he'd turn around and walk the other way.

Eventually, Romero said, he jumped unseen from the bridge to land on the north side of the river sometime after 3 a.m. Monday.

The chief said police have been to his home and spent most of the day yesterday looking for him.

"We don't believe he wanted to commit suicide and we don't believe he went in the water," Romero said. "He was arrested for doing the same thing last month and people in businesses along the river said they have seen him out there."

Romero said that Santiago was charged because he put himself and rescuers in a precarious position.

"No matter what his intentions were, he put himself in a situation where he now had to be rescued, and he put others at risk," Romero said.

Pepper said his rescue team felt it was worth it to try to rescue both men.

"It's a risk versus benefit thing," he said. "We put our people in harm's way if there's a significant benefit there. It is a human life, and we value that. We make every attempt possible to give him the best chance at survival."

The rescue team is funded by the Department of Homeland Security, and specializes in extracting people from difficult places, such as collapsed buildings, trenches and other confined spaces.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service