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5-hour rescue operation saves injured Calif. hiker

Rain grounded helicopters during a hiker rescue near Deep Creek Hot Springs, forcing crews to hike over a mile into a canyon until skies cleared just enough for a helicopter hoist

By Daniella Segura
The Macon Telegraph

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. — An injured hiker was hoisted from a rainy canyon during an hours-long rescue, California fire officials say.

San Bernardino County and Apple Valley fire crews responded to a trail above Deep Creek Hot Springs in the San Bernardino Mountains after getting a report of an injured hiker at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, May 4, the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

After finding the hiker, rescuers made their way up the canyon from Apple Valley.

With the rainfall, a helicopter was not a viable option to rescue the hiker, fire officials said.

Instead, “crews went as far as they could with the all-terrain vehicle, and then had to hike down into the canyon, which was a little over a mile,” rescuers said in a video shared on X.

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Rescuers said they treated the hiker for his injury and prepped him to be carried out of the canyon.

But “then, skies cleared just enough for a sheriff’s aviation helicopter to come in,” rescuers said in the video.

The helicopter crew hoisted the hiker from the canyon to an awaiting ambulance, rescuers said.

“At this point, all that was left was for firefighters to hike out of the canyon, but by this time, it had gotten dark,” rescuers said.

All rescuers made it safely back from the trail, ending the five-hour rescue effort, the district said.

Deep Creek Hot Springs is about a 100-mile drive northeast from Los Angeles.

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