LEHIGH, Ill. (AP) - Two women have been rescued by firefighters from the ledge of an 80-foot- (24-meter) high limestone pile near a quarry in eastern Illinois.
They were part of a group of four women who apparently wanted to sled down the pile late Sunday, The (Kankakee) Daily-Journal reported Monday.
The quarry is in Lehigh, west of Kankakee and southwest of Chicago.
The other two women were able to make it back down and spent about an hour trying to get the trapped women off the ledge before calling for help, said Mike Whalen, Limestone Township Fire Protection District chief.
By that time, the batteries in their cell phones had run down, he added.
One went back to their vehicle to charge a phone and call 911. Firefighters responded about 12:30 a.m. Monday. It took 45 minutes for rescuers to bring each down.
“Obviously, this is not a place you want to do something like this,” Whalen said. “There are a lot of risks and dangers.”
All four received tickets for trespassing.
“Quarries are not a recreational site and we ask that the public abide by the no-trespassing signs on our property,” said Atisthan Roach, a spokeswoman for Vulcan Materials Co. “We are very glad no one got hurt.”
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