A Toronto firefighter captured the city’s attention Wednesday morning for rescuing a young woman trapped on a 12-storey crane in the city’s downtown core.
But Rob Wonfor reached local celebrity status when he touched down on the ground and started wryly cracking jokes about the tense situation.
Speaking with reporters at the scene, Wonfor, 52, spoke with sunny candour about his monkey-like climbing abilities, a hockey tournament he had later that day (he plays goalie) and suggested that the woman stuck on the crane might have a job waiting for her with Toronto Fire Services.
“She has to tell me how she did it because she’s gotta be our new training officer for high angle, because it’s impressive. It was hard enough for me to go up with ropes and the harnesses, and she free-climbed that. It’s incredible,” Wonfor said.
Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg applauded the rescue as “a very well-executed operation” by a “highly skilled technical rescuer.” Wonfor joked that he had little say in the matter.
“Yeah, I was voluntold -- ‘You’re going up,’” he said with a smile. “I’ve been on (the job) 22 years, so I do a lot of rope work with trees and so, yeah, I’m a bit of a monkey.”
It took Wonfor about 2.5 hours to scale the crane and bring the woman to safety.
“I have a tree job to do tomorrow and it’s not going to be nearly as high as that. It’s gonna be like climbing a bush, right?” Wonfor said.
Wonfor answered journalists’ questions with a smile. Asked about the negotiator who spoke with the woman throughout the rescue, Wonfor compared his voice to the smooth baritone of singer Perry Como.
“He calmed me down,” Wonfor said.
The veteran firefighter joked that he’d have to cut the press conference short, on account of a hockey game he was set to play later that day.
“We’ve got a game at 11, so, I don’t want to be late. I already missed one game. I play goal, so I’m the go-to guy,” Wonfor said.
“I try to play goal, but I’m getting a little bit older -- but if the Leafs want me, I’ll come back out!”
That witty attitude earned Wonfor plenty of fans online. According to a tweet from the Toronto Professional Firefighters’ Association, Don Cherry called the firefighter earlier today for a “pep talk.”
@CoachsCornerDC Thanks for the pep talk and kind words earlier today with A/Capt Rob Wonfor. Appreciated.
— Toronto Firefighters (@TPFFA) April 26, 2017
Others joined in to applaud Wonfor for the rescue and salute his chipper demeanor.
Thanks to the firefighter who risk his life to save the lady stuck up on the #crane. You & the toronto rescue workers are heros #toronto pic.twitter.com/3ZKSaoH2fi
— Roxie (@Canadian_mom73) April 26, 2017
Amazing rescue by #TorontoFirefighter of young woman in crane incident. Fine example of professionalism and compassion
— Bob Rae (@BobRae48) April 26, 2017
@MapleLeafs should call up Toronto fire hero, acting captain Rob Wonfor, for a shift in a pre-season game next season. #nhl #CraneGirl
— nick milliken (@NickMilliken) April 26, 2017
great idea @JamieTawil.
— T (@trig72) April 26, 2017
after hearing from @Toronto_Fire #RobWonfor about crane rescue...who else wants to go have a drink with this guy?? pic.twitter.com/f6UH6CBBWD
I guess every day for a hockey player is a great day for hockey but not every victory shows up on the scoreboard!!! #RobWonfor #cranerescue pic.twitter.com/gyxepMEvXe
— Susana Andres (@andres73_sus) April 26, 2017