INDEX, Wash — On Saturday, the Sky Valley Fire Department announced a volunteer firefighter in the force died from a rock-climbing accident.
“Unfortunately, he’d only been here a couple of months and had gone through the training and he’d just started his career with us,” said Assistant Chief of Operations Ernie Walters. The department has notified staff and volunteers internally but has not released the man’s name to the public.
The town of Index is famous in the rock-climbing community for its large, exposed, vertical rock wall that can be seen from just about anywhere in town. Despite a few close calls, the this is the first climber death in over a decade, according to the fire department.
Chief Walters added that the man who died was an avid rock climber and was working toward becoming an EMT. That was cut short over the weekend while he was climbing a portion of the Index Town Wall and experienced what the department categorized as “equipment failure."
“This is a very technical wall to climb on, it can be very dangerous, even for the experts. I would say definitely know what you’re doing before you go out there and try it,” Walters said.
The Index Town Wall draws climbers from around the region and is a dangerous spot known to first responders.
“It’s always in the back of our mind,” Walters said.
Chief Walters also emphasized the role volunteer firefighters play at the Sky Valley Fire Department.
“They’re our most important resource. It doesn’t matter how many trucks we have, how many stations we have. If we don’t have the volunteers, we’re nothing. They are the blood of our department,” Walters added.