Authorities shut down Highway 101 in Santa Barbara Wednesday night due to a possibly suicidal woman on the Las Positas Road overpass.
The incident began at about 8:20 p.m. when firefighters received a call about a young woman on the freeway sign above the southbound freeway lanes on the La Cumbre Road side of the overpass, according to Battalion Chief Jim McCoy of the Santa Barbara City Fire Department.
Firefighters, along with Santa Barbara police officers and an AMR ambulance, responded to the scene.
The freeway was closed in both directions while authorities tried to defuse the situation.
Emergency personnel deployed a tarp on the roadway below the woman to catch her in case she jumped or sliipped, McCoy said, adding that “we didn’t have much to catch her if she fell.”
At the same time, they used a ladder truck to get a firefighter close to the woman. He was able to coax her onto the ladder and she was brought down without injury, McCoy said.
She was taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for evaluation, he added.
By about 9 p.m., the freeway was reopened.
The woman’s name was not released.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.