Florida Woman Gets Stuck In Banyan Tree

KEY WEST, FL — Police officers and firefighters are quite accustomed to helping people get out of tight jams. After all, it’s their duty to “protect and serve.”

Be that as it may, it’s just not every day that the tight jam someone needs assistance getting out of happens to be a banyan tree. That, however, was exactly the case in Key West recently.

It seems a woman managed to get herself proper stuck inside the labyrinthine branches of a rather large banyan tree. The woman was so tightly pinned in the tree, Key West Police Officer Scott Standerwick and fire rescue personnel had to help her get out, a Tuesday Facebook post from the department said.

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The woman, who wasn’t identified by police, was a local resident, the agency noted, while adding: “Protect and serve!”

Banyan trees are native to India, according to encyclopedia.com, but the species of fig can also grow in other areas with warm climates, such as Florida. The trees are noted for becoming “grovelike in appearance, often covering large areas,” the website noted, adding that they are sometimes trimmed to create arbors.

A call to the Key West Police Department on Tuesday for more information about the unusual rescue was not immediately answered. It remains unclear just how emergency personnel managed to free the woman from the tree. The full size of the tree is also unknown. It is also unclear if the tree had to be cut at all to enable the woman to wriggle out of its hold.

While the Key West Police Department’s rescue is quite unusual, it’s not the only one from the Sunshine State to make headlines in recent history. Back in April, firefighters in Lake County managed to rescue a tiny bear cub from a wildfire. The critter, since named Smokey Junior, is recovering at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo and is expected to be returned to the wild later this year. A baby python was also rescued from an accused thief’s pants by a St. Petersburg pet shop owner earlier this month. The man in that case faces criminal charges for his alleged escapade.

Photo courtesy of the Key West Police Department Facebook page