Firefighters spent part of Thursday morning dangling off the side of Burnaby Mountain as part of the department's technical rescue training.
The training exercise is part of an annual program that helps familiarize new and less experienced firefighters on some of the terrain they could encounter while on duty in Burnaby.
"The north side of the mountain is quite a hazard. There's lots of steep drop-offs, and some of them are in the region of 200 to 300 feet," Lt. Jeff Lyle told the NOW.
While there hasn't been a major incident on the mountain in recent years, Lyle said people occasionally hop the fenced perimeter not realizing how dangerous the area is.
"It looks like bush and it looks like it's not sloped, but there are actually sheer drops," he said. "There are signs up there, but unfortunately people do stray over the fence."
Because the mountain is within city limits, firefighters need to be trained to work in the dangerous terrain in case rescues or searches ever needed to be conducted in the area, Lyle added.
On Thursday, firefighters were practising carrying stretchers and equipment over the barriers and down the side of the mountain. In most cases, the rescued patient is carried down the side of the mountain and over to Barnet Marine Highway where emergency personnel would be waiting, Lyle said.
Only if the patient is really close to the top would crews carry them back over the fence, he added.
