A Coast Guard Helicopter rescued the two Saturday morning after the Friday night storm passed.
YOLO COUNTY, Calif. — An injured hiker and first responder were rescued Saturday morning after spending Friday night near the bottom of a cliff in rural Yolo County, officers with the California Highway Patrol said.
According to the CHP, several agencies responded to the area of Highway 16 near Road 41 in Yolo County Friday evening after a climber fell off a cliff.
Helicopters were not able to respond to the area to rescue the hiker due to poor visibility from an incoming storm.
Despite the heavy rain, first responders on the ground continued trying to get to the hiker. Rescuers crossed the Cache Creek in a boat and climbed a half mile to get to the hiker's location.
During the rescue attempt, a first responder fell and injured him or herself. As more rain fell in the darkness, rescuers decided to wait until daylight to rescue the hike.
After the storm passed Saturday morning, a US Coast Guard helicopter found the injured hiker and hoisted him or her from the base of the cliff.
A CHP helicopter also responded to the cliff and rescued the injured first responder and hoisted the rest of the rescue team. The hiker's injuries were described as critical.
The first responder reported only minor injuries.
**Multi Agency Rescue-Yolo County**
Yesterday evening, Yocha Dehe Fire
Capay Valley Fire, Esparto Fire, Yolo Co S.O., Yolo County Sar, Yolo AMR, all responded, along with a request for CHP H-30 to a report of a climber who fell from a cliff, Highway 16 near Road 41. Due to poor visibility due to heavy rain H-30 was unable to respond.
Ground resources continued their response during darkness and heavy rain. Due to the climbers location, ground resources had to cross Casche Creek in a boat and climb approx 1/2 mile to the location where the climber landed. At one point, a first responder fell injuring themselves during the rescue attempt. Due to rain, darkness, and poor visibility, ground resources decided to wait until daylight to extract the injured climber.
During the night, a request was made for a United States Coast Guard Helicopter respond, however due to the storm the Coast Guard was unable to make it to the scene due to poor visibility.
This morning with visibility improving, the US Coast Guard Helo hoisted the critically injured hiker from the cliff and delivered him to waiting AMR ambulance. While the Coast Guard was involved in rescue operations, H-30 responded and hoisted the injured first responder from the cliff (fortunately they received minor injuries). The remaining SAR members were hoisted from the cliff by the Coast Guard and CHP H-30.
This rescue could not have been successful without the dedication of all the ground first responders. They did a remarkable job in saving this climbers life.
(All media please contact Yolo Sheriff for more specific details).
Posted by CHP - Golden Gate Division Air Operations on Saturday, December 30, 2023
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