SKAMANIA, Wash. — Vancouver and Skamania fire crews were able to set up a rope-and-pulley system to lower an injured hiker 200 feet down a rock wall at Beacon Rock State Park Thursday afternoon.
Two hikers had been using ropes to climb a known path up a rock face in the park, but one of them suffered multiple injuries, including a hip injury, when he fell about 25 feet and landed on a ledge about 200 feet up from the ground, according to a news release from the Vancouver Fire Department (VPD).
The Skamania County Sheriff's Office initially responded, and then the Region 4 technical rescue team was called in to assist at around 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The team includes firefighters from VPD, the Clark County Fire and Rescue and Clark County Fire District 6, and responds to incidents in Clark, Skamania, Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties.
The team rigged a complicated rope-and-pulley system, with the rescue team's coordinator, Captain Chris McBride, climbing up first to set up the top of the system. Two more firefighters followed, including a paramedic who evaluated the hiker's injuries and treated him as much as possible.
"This was a really tough one. This was a once-in-a-career rescue effort," one of the team leaders said. "This is why we spend hundreds of hours training for an event like this. Everyone worked well together and performed professionally and proficiently."
The other firefighter hauled up a a metal basket that the team used to lower the hiker to the ground, where he was taken to the emergency department at Peace Health Southwest. The rescue took about five hours in total and finished up just before nightfall, according to VPD.
"That was the hardest tech call of my 30-year career. We were on plan D and E. There were so many variables and our last rescuer came off the rock in the dark," another team member said.