Beverly firefighter saves man on church roof

Paul Leighton

October 06, 2008 03:36 pm

— BEVERLY — A firefighter scurried across the peaked roof of a downtown church on his stomach to grab a man who appeared ready to jump to the ground 40 feet below Monday afternoon.
Capt. Peter O’Connor grabbed the man by his belt and pulled him back onto a ladder that Danvers firefighters had raised in an attempt to reach the man.
“He started to make a motion like he was going to step off the ladder,” O’Connor said. “I scooted along just to grab his belt.”
The dramatic rescue took place in front of about 40 people who had stopped to watch as the scene unfolded just after 2 p.m. in downtown Beverly. Officials did not immediately identify the man.
Details of the rescue will be published in Tuesday’s edition of The Salem News.