Hamilton-Based Team Assists with Rescue from Lawrence Bridge

A Hamilton-based technical rescue team was called to help with the rescue of two men from a railroad bridge early Monday morning in Lawrence.

One of the two Essex County Technical Rescue teams is based at the . The other team is based at the .

Hamilton firefighters Ryan Goodwin and Logan Goodwin responded with the technical rescue truck and trailer to Lawrence, where team members from all over the county met the truck and the team’s equipment.

They were called there where a man, and later another man, were out on an abandoned wooden railroad bridge over the Merrimack River.

“The current was so strong (in the river below) it would have taken them right down the river,” Ryan Goodwin said.

The Hamilton team was first called out at 10:39 p.m. The team was on scene until about 3:30 a.m. on Monday.

While the first man was rescued and later arrested for trespassing, the second man walked off the bridge on his own and fled, according to The Eagle Tribune.

It was the first time in more than a year that the technical rescue team has been activated. It was last .

The team is led by Firefighter Tom Harris of North Reading. There were about 20 team members on scene from Sunday night through Monday morning.