Firefighters, air bag save man who fell from West Loop L tracks

A giant inflatable air bag set up by Chicago firefighters saved a life Tuesday morning, cushioning the fall of a despondent man who plummeted from his perch on a steel support beam for the CTA’s elevated Green Line tracks above Lake Avenue just west of Halsted Street in the West Loop.

The man, who wasn’t injured, was taken by ambulance to Stroger Hospital for evaluation, authorities said.

The inflatable devices, though regularly deployed, rarely are able to prevent a death. There’s a simple reason for that, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.

“If someone is set on committing suicide, they choose not to jump onto it,” Langford said.

And if a person is higher than 10 stories, the device becomes ineffective in saving a life, and firefighters won’t even set it up, Langford said.

The fire department has two inflatable airbags, kept at firehouses at opposite ends of the city.

A veteran fire department source said they’ve saved lives “only a couple of times.”

On Tuesday, police and fire personnel were notified shortly after a man descended onto the L tracks at the California stop of the Green Line around 2:30 a.m., CTA spokesman Brian Steele said.

Transit officials cut power to the tracks, which carry Green Line and Pink Line trains, as the man made his way east. Just west of Halsted Street, he lowered himself onto a steel girder that supports the elevated tracks.

Police and fire officials quickly arrived.

An employee of a nearby juice shop initially thought the commotion was from a production of the television show “Chicago Fire,” which frequently films in the area.

SWAT officers, trained in negotiation, were able to open a dialogue with the man, who “wasn’t initially talking and seemed despondent,” police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

“They told him, ‘There is help out there, and this is not your worst day,’ ” he said.

At about 7 a.m. the man fell safely into the yellow air bag.

Minutes later, the CTA resumed train service.