UPDATED STORY:
A 53-year-old woman from Chicago is dead after she fell up to 150 feet off a cliff behind the lighthouse at Cape Spear around 6 a.m. Saturday morning.
A news release from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary received around noon on Saturday confirmed the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The investigation into the matter is ongoing and there are no concerns for public safety," the statement from police said.
The woman was with her sister. Both were visting from Chicago. They were at Cape Spear to see the sun rise.
“There’s a precarious spot up by the tower, by the lighthouse itself, and whether it was a gust of wind or just a slip, the lady plummeted down about I’d say about 50 feet to a ledge and then she went down another 100 feet to where she landed the last going off,” said St. John's Regional Fire Department Capt. Pat Power, who added they got the call to respond at around 6 a.m.
Power said the six fire department crew members from the west end plus a high-angle team responded. About eight to 10 people worked to get the woman up over the cliff.
“We had to wait a long while. This started at 6 a.m. and right now it’s (10:30) so the situation was aggravated because we had to get the police here, had to get other people here to do their thing, a lot of pictures had to be taken.”
Power said the woman’s sister remained on scene the whole time and “was very distraught” so they had a psychologist come to speak with her.
“She’s here by herself in the province from Chicago,” he said.
While Power said the situation was “tricky” the team was well-prepared because they often do high-angle training in the exact spot where the woman fell.
Both Power and acting fire lieutenant Steve Erbland said they see these kinds of situations far too often.
“In my time, there’s been dozens and dozens and dozens,” said Power. “Not the same result – a lot of times just broken ankles (or) broken legs, but the situation aggravates itself because the terrain is so precarious up here, and somebody coming from Chicago walking on pavement their lifetime – to us it’s normal conditions, walking on the cliff.”
Erbland stressed the importance of following the signs posted by Parks Canada.
“These places are beautiful, we all love to come here and see them but obey the signs – the signs are here for a reason. Stay away from the edges, watch where you’re walking, stay on the main trails…listen to the Parks Canada employees because, as the captain said, it’s something that happens far too often in these areas.”
Parks Canada personnel on the scene said they could not comment on the incident but expected there might be a release later today from Parks Canada's communications department.
Previous story:
UPDATE: The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary has confirmed that emergency response units are at Cape Spear this morning after reports that a woman fell to her death from a cliff around 6 a.m. No other details were available at 10:30 a.m.
Police told the Telegram they expect to issue a release on the incident shortly.
Parks Canada personnel on the scene said they could not comment on the incident, but expected there would be a release later today from Parks Canada communications department.
On the scene about 10:20 it was noted that three RNC cars and two Technical Rescue units were still at Cape Spear. A hearse from Carnell's Funeral Home was spotted waiting at the bottom of the road.
The Telegram is continuing to follow the story and will update as soon as the information has been released.
