By Kelsey Bradshaw
San Antonio Express-News
SAN ANTONIO — For many of the firefighters who worked for hours to free a teenager from Robber Baron Cave earlier this month, it was the first time they were required to do so — cave rescues are extremely rare in the San Antonio-area.
The San Antonio Fire Department’s technical rescue team was called out to the North Side cave, which stretches for a mile about 30 to 80 feet underground, March 8 after an 18-year-old from Robert E. Lee High School on a field trip found herself trapped in an area called the Hole in the Floor.
“I’ve been here for 13 years and I’ve made two cave rescues,” said San Antonio Fire Captain Brendan Pohlen, adding the March 9 rescue was his third. “Most of these guys have been in caves and trained in caves, but for most of them, this is their first cave rescue.”
Pohlen led the firefighters in pulling the girl out.
The 18-year-old was climbing down into the Hole in the Floor when her torso got stuck. Firefighters used jackhammers and air-powdered jackhammers to chip away at a gallon-sized hole next to the trapped girl.
It took more than 10 hours for a group of about 11 firefighters, working in groups of three or four at a time, to chip away at the cave’s floor, creating a bigger hole that allowed the teen to escape. They had to be careful of any cracks in the area.
Her feet were a couple feet off the ground and firefighters placed her in a harness and propped her feet up so she wouldn’t slip, Pohlen said.
“There were things that were a little nerve racking when you’re in there chipping at rock and there’s rock that could fall,” said firefighter Justin Anderson.
Anderson has been with the department for two years and the March 9 incident was the first time he was able to apply the skills he practiced in caves across San Antonio.
The technical rescue team recently trained for a cave retrieval in January at a cave near Cornerstone Church on the city’s far North Side, Pohlen said.
Anderson said the experience was “wild.”
Firefighters, after maneuvering 350 feet into the cave, had to be careful when they got closer to where the girl was stuck as to not injure her with a jackhammer, he said.
Anderson was placed below the girl to chip away at the cave’s floor.
While it was an intense situation, the girl kept calm, he said. As she slowly became unstuck, the girl would say, “Oh my gosh I can move I can move,” Anderson said.
Pohlen said that those interested in exploring a cave should always tell someone where they’re going, never go alone and go with someone familiar with the area.
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