Injured Hiker Rescued From Great Falls by MoCo Fire Dept.

POTOMAC, MD — Montgomery County rescue workers pulled a young man to safety Monday after he fell from a trail along Great Falls and nearly slipped into the raging Potomac River.

Fire and rescue personnel responded at 3:17 p.m. to the area around the Billy Goat Trail, at the river's edge in the C&O Canal National Park, according to Pete Piringer, a spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.

The unidentified man was taking a Labor Day hike along the trail with a friend when the accident happened. Piringer tweeted that the rescuers responded to the scene near Purple Horse Beach, on the Maryland side of the river, and that the victim sustained non-life threatening injuries.

Here are safety tips from the National Park Service for hiking along Great Falls and the Billy Goat Trail.

WRC-TV Channel 4 reported that because of the rugged terrain, the rescuers had to use a small boat to carry the unidentified man from the river shore to a rescue vehicle

"This happens about 100 times a year," Piringer said on Channel 4. He said hikers on the Billy Goat Trail should bring a cell phone, make sure that it's fully charged, and keep track of their exact location in case they need to call 911.

Image: Rescuers carry the injured man Monday from the Potomac River shore to a waiting truck (MCFRS via Twitter).