The Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Fire Department’s high-angle rescue team faced a challenge Monday night after a woman climbed to the top of a 300-foot construction crane at the corner of Nelson and Seymour.
A couple of rescuers finally managed to coax the woman down.

Capt. Robert Deeley says firefighters are worried this kind of thing is going to happen more often, as people try their hand at stunts inspired by the new Spider-Man movie.

Insp. Jeremy Irons of the Vancouver Police Department said the woman involved in Monday’s incident was known to police. Irons described the woman as a “thrill-seeker” who did the same thing at another construction site earlier this month.

Meanwhile, news of the woman’s previous climb has left members of the fire department very angry. They say it’s appalling that the woman, who apparently has a history of mental illness and was released from care, managed to put fire crews’ lives at risk once again.

Irons said the woman is undergoing another psychiatric assessment. The police are considering whether to press charges.

I didn’t find the Spiderman movie all that inspiring. Spiderman should be the world’s greatest builderer — so why does he just swing around everywhere instead? I think there’s about 0.5 seconds of him actually climbing something in the film.

Regarding the Fire Department’s rescue of this “insane” woman, I wonder if she really needed rescuing? Didn’t fire fighters learn their lesson already from cats? Leave em up there, they’ll come down eventually.