CHP Helicopter Conducts 3 Hoist Rescues in 24-Hour Period, 1 in Contra Costa County

A California Highway Patrol helicopter conducted three hoist rescues in the Bay Area within 24 hours, CHP officials said. CHP helicopter H-32 was alerted to missing hikers in the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve in Contra Costa County at about 6:45 p.m. Sunday.

An East Bay Regional Parks District helicopter Eagle 7 was searching for the hikers and found them stuck on a ledge. Eagle 7 then contacted H-32 via air-to-air radio to request a hoist rescue. H-32 hoisted the hikers one by one to safety. The hikers said they got lost on unfamiliar trails and ended up on the ledge.

H-32 conducted a hoist rescue of an injured hiker in Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area in Solano County shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday. The 47-year-old hiker injured her leg. H-32 found the hiker near the Monticello dam. Because of the area’s steep terrain, the helicopter was able to set only one skid down on a hillside and allow a paramedic to hike to injured woman. The paramedic and personnel from a Solano County Fire Department prepared the hiker to be lifted to H-32, which flew the woman to a command post.

H-32 performed a hoist rescue of climber tangled in his gear on a cliff near Davenport at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday. After a Cal-Fire rescuer cut away the ropes and other equipment the climber was tangled in, H-32 lifted the man to safety in gusty offshore winds. The man was transported to the hospital for injuries and because he had been inverted for almost two hours.

By Bay City News

Photo via Shutterstock

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