Two men were charged with trespassing, after the fire department had to rescue them from the rooftop of an abandoned hospital.
The incident happened at the now-defunct Charles Camsell Hospital located at 128th Street and 114 Avenue around 3 a.m. Sunday. Four men in their early 20s were wandering through the building, when two decided to try to scale down the side of the structure, leaving them stranded.
Ryan Andrade was one of the four, and he spoke with CTV News about the events that led up to the rescue.
"Two of us came down through the hospital using our flashlights," said Andrade.
"Our other two friends decided they wanted to propel down the wall with a grappling hook, thinking it would be an adventure. We told them it was a bad idea, and they ignored us and decided to go down on their own."
Andrade said he and his friends didn't plan on scaling the side of the hospital, although they did bring the equipment required to do so.
"We heard from some other people that this was an interesting place to explore so we decided to go try it for ourselves."
One area resident was not impressed with the antics.
"There are more important and better things to do than get rescued on the side of a hospital by the fire department," said Jason Cooper.
This isn't the first time Charles Camsell Hopsital has been in the news. Many people living in the area said the abandoned hospital is an eyesore, increasingly facing problems of vandalism and drug dealing. The hospital shut its doors in 1996.
Last December, city council approved development plans by architect Gene Dub to turn the hospital into a housing development.
Construction on the site was slated to start sometime this summer.
