By Sherry conohan
Staff Writer
WEST LONG BRANCH — In a dramatic rescue, police, firemen and first aid members saved a man clinging to a ventilation pipe he had grabbed after slipping and falling down a roof.
Police said William Chelednik, of Allenhurst, was doing construction on a house at Monmouth and West Palmer roads on Monday when he slipped on loose shingles on the roof. They said he caught a ventilation pipe as he fell, preventing him from crashing to the ground two stories below.
Police Officers William Lynch and Brian Ellis were the first to respond to the call, which came in at 1:06 p.m., and were soon joined by members of the fire department and first aid squad.
But, according to police, it was quickly discovered that a ladder rescue would be impossible due to the angle and distance of the roof.
Lynch and Ellis, along with Earl Reed, the borough public works director and a volunteer firefighter, made the rescue possible by gaining access to the back roof of the house and from there scaling the roof pitch in which Chelednik was stuck and lowering a safety harness to him.
After Chelednik secured the harness around his waist, he was pulled up to the other side of the roof, according to police. From there, he was able to climb down to the ground using a ladder.
Chelednik refused any medical attention from the first aid squad, police said.