The LA County Sheriff's Dept. issued a press release on last night's rescue of the teenage hikers in Eaton Canyon, and it was more of an adventure than the initial reports suggested — but with no flashlights, no hiking supplies, and risking the lives of the chopper crew who had to fly below power lines to save them, just dumb:
Nine teenage hikers were assisted out of Eaton Canyon by deputies and firefighters Tuesday, after one hiker was lost and another one was injured. The injured 19-year old El Monte man was airlifted by a sheriff's rescue helicopter to an area hospital for treatment for non-life threatening injuries.
The nine teens, aged 15-19, all Korean-speakers, started their hike at about noon without any hiking supplies or flashlights. At about 5:00PM as it was getting dark, a 19-year old man fell down into the Eaton Canyon waterfall and was injured so badly he could not climb back up. The waterfall is located about 1 1/2 miles past the bridge into Eaton Canyon.
First responders were called and Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters, Altadena Station Sheriff's deputies, Altadena Search & Rescue deputies, and Fire Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department helicopters responded and worked together to locate and assist the group of hikers.
Firefighters located seven of the teens and walked them to safety. Meanwhile, Altadena Sheriff's Search & Rescue deputies found an eighth member of the group who had gotten lost in the darkness above the waterfall area, and walked the 19-year old man to safety.
The sheriff's helicopter search & rescue team and ground rescuers located the ninth man, also 19-years old, who was injured in a fall into the waterfall. He was airlifted by Sheriff's Air-5 rescue helicopter out of Eaton Canyon to receive medical treatment for injuries he received in the fall.
Sheriff's Air-5 pilot Deputy Mark Burnett described the actions of the helicopter rescue crew:
"We flew into Eaton Canyon just before darkness. We turned on every exterior light we had on the rescue helicopter and descended below the canyon walls above the falls as we searched for the injured hiker. Once we were over the location, we deployed a Sheriff's Emergency Services Detail deputy paramedic via rescue hoist. Meanwhile we hugged the canyon walls for reference, illuminated mostly by our landing lights."
"Unable to leave and return due to the darkness, we remained hovering over the incident while our deputy medic was on the ground trying to sort out what happened, including trying to communicate through the noise and the wind generated by the helicopter 80 feet overhead. In spite of all that, our medic was able to locate the victim, conduct a medical assessment, and package the victim into a rescue litter. Once completed, we hoisted the injured hiker and medic up from the ground and up into the helicopter. We flew out of the canyon in the darkness while having to fly under the high tension wires crossing the mouth of the canyon."
