WINSLOW — A five-year-old boy was rescued by firefighters late Wednesday afternoon after he climbed roughly 25 feet up a tree and couldn’t get down.
Shortly before 5 p.m., Winslow police received a call about a boy stuck in a tree on China Road. Police and the Winslow Fire Department went to the scene, which is across from Rainbow Lane.
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There they found Richard Brewster stuck in the tree. Brewster and his three brothers had been playing in the woods behind their home, according to his mother, Rose Brewster.
The tree Richard Brewster climbed previously had fallen to a slanted position, making it easier to climb up. About 25 feet up, Richard Brewster couldn’t make his way back down, according to Rose Brewster.
“He climbs a lot anyway, but he ended up going a little too high,” she said. “I was outside and his brother hollered âMom! Mom! Come here!'”
Brewster said she first tried to reach her son with a ladder she had on the property, but it was too short. She had a longer ladder but couldn’t carry it the roughly 20 yards into the woods.
“I tried calling a bunch of different people before I called them,” she said, referring to the police. “It was scary. I mean, if he falls — I was just scared.”
Winslow Fire Department Lt. Scott Higgins said getting children safely removed from trees or other structures is part of firefighters’ ladder training, but the location of the tree and the inability to get the ladder truck on the scene made it a little more difficult, he said.
“We typically won’t set up ladders like that; it was kind of a unique area,” Higgins said. “Given what we had, it was the only option.”
After rescue personnel safely got Richard Brewster from the tree, he and his three brothers got a quick tour of the ladder truck before the firefighters left the scene.
Jesse Scardina — 861-9239 | jscardina@centralmaine.com | Twitter: @jessescardina
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