‘High angle’ rescue instructor falls to his death as students watch, TN cops say

A high-angle rescue class turned horrific for students when the instructor suddenly plummeted to his death near a mountain waterfall, according to investigators in the mountains of northeast Tennessee.

Advanced EMT instructor Fred Kemp was surrounded by fellow EMTs at the time, but their efforts could not overcome his traumatic injuries, Washington County/Johnson City EMS said in an Oct. 23 news release.

It happened Wednesday, Oct. 22, and a cause of death has not been released. Kemp worked with the department 28 years, and his wife is also an EMT with the department, officials said.

“EMS crews were conducting a scheduled high angle technical rescue training in the Blue Hole Falls area in Carter County,” EMS spokesman James Matthews said at the news conference.

“During that exercise, Advanced EMT Kemp, who was serving as an instructor for the course, suffered a fall from a significant height. Other personnel taking part in the training, his peers, immediately rendered aid to Mr. Kemp, while requesting additional resources to help. Despite their best efforts, Mr. Kemp did not survive his injuries.”

EMS officials have not revealed how far Kemp fell and or what rescue technique he was teaching at the time. Kemp was skilled in rope and swift water rescue techniques, officials said.

The cause of the fall is being investigated by the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration, WJHL reports.

Blue Hole Falls is a series of waterfalls at the base of Holston Mountain, Carter Tennessee Tourism says.

“Lidar data indicates a cumulative drop of approximately 50 feet over three steps of roughly equal size,” World Waterfall Database says. “A smaller fourth fall can be found about 150 feet further upstream from the top of the falls, but it looks to be separated by too much distance to be considered a congruent part of the falls.”

The waterfall is about a 120-mile drive northeast from the main Tennessee entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 4:41 AM with the headline "‘High angle’ rescue instructor falls to his death as students watch, TN cops say."