At roughly 5:50 p.m. on January 13, 2015, a worker carrying out welding work on a boat moored in the Port of Montréal fell about 40 feet into the hold of a boat. An emergency call was quickly made to the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM), which immediately dispatched several teams, including the technical rescue teams.

First responders arrived on the scene in less than five minutes and deployed rapidly. The intense cold was a factor working against them, with the victim facing an elevated risk of hypothermia. The firefighters also fought the frigid weather, which served to complicate their rescue efforts.

The emergency response was carried out successfully thanks to a joint strategy established by SIM teams and their collaborators and the rescue techniques deployed by firefighters on the scene. The operation ended at 7:30 p.m.

It is worth highlighting the timely response and professionalism of personnel from stations 5, 13, 20, 27 and 47, and of firefighters assigned to group 1 support units as well as chiefs 136-1, 137-1, 144-1, 120-2 and 135-2, all of whom responded to the emergency call.

The SIM wishes to thank Urgences-santé and the Port of Montréal authorities for their invaluable collaboration. 

To read more testimonies, visit the section marked Proud of our employees!

Collaboration: Éric Dontigny, Operations Chief (136-1)