Oct 2, 2019 2 min read

A Washington man who had fallen down an embankment Monday night onto the train tracks near Cumberland Avenue remained there until about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, when Washington firefighters rescued him.

Washington Fire Chief Gerald Coleman said the man, approximately 50 years old, told them Monday that he had fallen down the embankment behind Tower Restaurant on West Chestnut during the halftime break of the Steelers game.

“He actually fell twice,” Coleman said. “Last night, he fell partially down the hill, and his leg got wrapped around a tree. Then this morning, he was able to free himself, and he fell the rest of the way onto the tracks.”

That’s when he was able to call for help, Coleman said. The man was alert and conscious Monday morning, but had suffered injuries to his right lower leg. Ambulance and Chair transported him to Washington Hospital. He was then flown to a Pittsburgh hospital.

“Due to the severity of the injury and the fact that he was there overnight, he needed a trauma center,” Coleman said.

Though the tracks are active and used often, people frequently walk along them, Coleman said. He said there wasn’t any train traffic Monday morning.

“That’s the first thing I did was have them stop any potential train traffic,” Coleman said. “They’re used quite a bit.”