CARRABASSETT VALLEY — When Carrabassett Valley Fire Chief Courtney Knapp heard the tone for a chairlift derailment at Sugarloaf Tuesday, it seemed unreal.

There had just been chairlift-evacuation training on Nov. 7 at Sugarloaf, he said.

Knapp, who served as operations officer Tuesday during the rescue of 150 people from the Spillway East Chairlift, worked along with Sugarloaf’s ski patrol director to supply people and equipment to the scene, he said.

“I have the highest praise for those involved,” he said. “It’s a tribute to the planning and training.”

After spending more than 100 hours helping to plan the November training, Carrabassett firefighter Earl Connor experienced the real thing, helping people with the lift evacuation, he said.

Connor was one of 10 firefighters from Carrabassett, Kingfield and Stratton who helped ski patrol members on the mountain.

Using a rope rescue device with a small seat and rope harness, the rescue involved belaying to lower skiers to the ground, said Tim Hardy, Franklin County Emergency Management Agency director, who along with Farmington Fire Chief Terry Bell, took the county communication vehicle to the scene to assist Knapp.

“It’s quite impressive,” Hardy said of the technique rescuers used to bring 150 people off the mountain in about an hour and a half.

Hardy relayed information to Clyde Ross at the local EMA office and also to the state EMA, which then reported to the governor.

NorthStar Ambulance brought in six vehicles with about 20 paramedics and emergency medical technicians to help from their bases in Farmington, Rangeley, Phillips and Livermore Falls, Knapp said.

Part of his concern was to keep rescuers safe as they worked under cold and windy conditions, he said. The rescuers’ ability to remain calm while working through the emergency was reassuring to the stranded skiers, he said.

Police Chief Scott Nichols served as incident commander and his dispatch crew got the ball rolling, Knapp said.

“Phones were ringing off the hook,” Nichols said Wednesday as he, two officers and two dispatchers tried to provide information and assistance to area agencies and individuals worried about friends and family. He likened his work to that of a conductor of a choir, coordinating responses and making connections with family members of those injured.

There was a CNN employee on the Spillway East Chairlift. Word of the accident spread quickly, not only across the country but the world.

“We had press calls within 20 minutes, one even from Japan came later,” Nichols said. Media satellite trucks were still stationed at Sugarloaf on Wednesday as investigators did their work.

The volume of cell phone calls by some of the estimated 5,000 people on the mountain Tuesday shut down the service for short periods, he said.

The November training took about a year and a half to plan as many “what ifs” were thrown into the scenario, Hardy said. That training helped Tuesday’s rescue go smoothly and professionally, he said.

For Franklin Memorial Hospital employees, the training just given enabled personnel to respond with calmly, professionally and compassionately, said Jerry Cayer, FMH chief operating officer.

The November training, which included many children, also helped hospital personnel be more sensitive to the families of those injured. They tried to support family members with things as simple as where to find a cup of coffee, he said.

“It was a busy day, a very engaged day but it didn’t feel outrageously chaotic,” he said.

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