Man at end of his rope stuck in water tank

By CHRIS TISCH
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 26, 2002

CLEARWATER -- Bob Davidson wished he had used a thicker rope Friday.

Davidson tied the rope to the top of an empty 15,000-gallon water tank, then climbed 24 feet down to the bottom, where he retrieved a broken float.

[Times photo: Jim Damaske] Clearwater firefighters, members of a technical rescue team, help Bob Davidson out of a water tank Friday on the roof of the Horizon House condos in Island Estates after he climbed in to retrieve a broken part.

The way down was easy. But as for the climbing back up, he would have had better luck with a rope made of banana peels.

His feet slipped off the knots he had tied in the skinny rope. And though he lifts weights three times a week, Davidson's arms soon tired from holding his entire weight. He couldn't climb out of the tank.

"I felt I could pull myself out of there," he said. "I'm in pretty good shape."

Atop the roof of the 126-unit Horizon House apartment complex in Island Estates, some 200 feet above the ground, Davidson waited.

"You talk about a view of Clearwater Harbor. You have the elite view on top of the building," noted Winston Sandlin, a security officer at Horizon House. "You're up there."

But that was of little consequence to Davidson, whose only view was the blank walls of the tank, which holds the complex's drinking water. Freedom, the small window entrance -- and exit -- was 24 feet above him.

The fire department was called about 10:30 a.m. A pully was used to drop a firefighter into the tank. The firefighter hooked a harness to Davidson, who was lifted out. The harness was dropped again, and the firefighter was lifted to safety.

Davidson, who is the complex's maintenance supervisor, emerged from the tank about noon. He had been in the tank more than three hours.

"It was like time stood still," he said.

Davidson, who will turn 60 next Saturday and has worked at the complex for nine years, was evaluated by rescuers. They gave him fluids and offered him a ride to the hospital, but he said he felt okay. He was back to work Friday afternoon and got the tank fixed.

"I felt fine," he said, adding he was pleased with how firefighters handled the incident.

Assistant Chief Charlie Flowers said the rescue was more about retrieving someone from a confined space than plucking someone from a high building. Still, he said firefighters have to be careful when they work so far off the ground. "It is 15 floors up," he said.

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