Cutting tree limbs is far from fun, and when you get stuck on a cherry picker while doing it on a hot July afternoon, it’s downright miserable.
That is exactly what happened to two friends of Grant and Stacie Cooper on Saturday, who live on Northwest 27th Terrace, about two miles north of UF.
The Coopers rented a cherry picker to cut down tree branches in their front yard, and two friends came over to help. While the two men were 50 feet in the air, a blown fuse caused the machine to stop working, leaving the men stranded.
Initial reports said the machine stopped working because a limb fell on it, but Stacie Cooper said those were incorrect.
“They were stuck up there for over an hour,” Cooper said, which happened just after 1 p.m, the hottest part of the day.
Grant Cooper — who was on the ground — tried to fix it but was unsuccessful. After exhausting all of their options, the men called Gainesville Fire Rescue.
Once the rescue team arrived, the street was blocked off and a ladder was raised to the men. Joey Gonzalez, a member of the rescue team, said it only took about five minutes to get the men down.
“This is kinda what we do for a living,” he said, joking.
GFR District Chief Michael Cowart said situations like this are why people need to be very careful when operating large equipment in potentially dangerous situations. He said a tree limb could have easily fallen on one of the men and caused a serious injury.
“When you rent equipment like that, you better know what the heck you’re doing,” he said.
But Stacie Cooper said there was never anything dangerous about the situation; her husband even fixed the machine later that day. She said the scene was more comical than anything.
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 7/31/2014 under the headline "Two men stranded in cherry picker, had to be rescued by firefighters"]
