Education

Firefighters dramatically rescue college freshman stuck in tree

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It’s only Wednesday, but a freshman at Pacific University has almost certainly locked up this week’s award for America’s stupidest student already.

The unidentified 18-year-old student managed to get herself stuck in a redwood tree near the library on the campus of the smallish private school in Forest Grove, Ore., reports The Oregonian.

The incident happened on Tuesday. It’s not clear when the student shimmied up the tree or how long she had been stuck there. Campus security called the local fire department around 5 p.m.

The distressed student was stranded at a place in the tree about 20 feet off the ground.

Michael Kinkade, Forest Grove’s fire chief, arrived on the scene first. He helpfully pitched a jacket up to the student so she could stay warm.

A full crew arrived later with a big 24-foot ladder and everything. With their help, the adventurous student was able to descend from the tree unharmed.

According to fire department spokesman Dave Nemeyer, the student explained her behavior to the fire chief by saying that she frequently climbs trees as a hobby. She noted that she is usually – usually – able to get down without assistance from several firefighters.

Nemeyer said the fire department doesn’t respond to many calls about adults stuck in trees. He recalled that there had been a local 12-year-old trapped in a tree fairly recently.

“That’s usually around the age range we’re dealing with on these calls,” he observed.

The leafy campus of Pacific University is located about 25 miles west of Portland. It’s home to a famously large number of trees including ginkgos, Douglas firs, bigleaf maples and giant sequoias.

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