A 59-year-old painter was rescued by Fire & EMS personnel today after he fell through a metal grate into the basement of a building on the Campus of Howard University. 

The man was painting the exterior of Founders Librarary in the 500 block of Howard Place, Northwest, when the grate on which he was standing collapsed, and he fell approximately 25 feet into a concrete containment area which measured about 6 feet by 20 feet. 

Rescue Squads One and Two combined through a Special Operations Command to reach the victim, stabilize him, and pull him to the surface using technical rescue techniques, ropes and pulleys.

Complicating the operation was the fact that the man weighs in excess of 300 pounds and that the area into which he fell was very small and movement was limited.  Firefighters were able to secure the man onto a flexible stretcher and raise him head first out of the hole, where he was treated by medics and quickly transported.