Woman's Car Plunges 700 Feet off Highway, Firefighters Scale Mountain for Daring Rescue
San Bernardino County firefighters responded to a perilous and bizarre call from a woman whose car plunged over the side of a mountain on May 24.
Though many of the details surrounding the situation are still under investigation, emergency rescue personnel are amazed that the woman made it out alive.
The unidentified woman, 26, was driving on State Route 18 near Crestline, California, when her vehicle plunged 700 feet down the side of the mountainous terrain.
According to California Highway Patrol Officer Juan Quintero, the woman intentionally made the sudden left-hand turn off the highway.
The woman found herself alive, but injured. She was able to phone for help, but was admittedly lost and unable to tell dispatchers where she was.
Dispatchers were able to estimate the woman’s approximate location from her cell phone signal. Rescue crews searched for clues on the highway that might suggest where the car had gone off the road.
Dusk was rapidly approaching, and rescue crews were racing against time to find the woman before nightfall. Her vehicle was ultimately located some 700 feet down the mountain.
As darkness and fog set in, a helicopter rescue was out of the question. The woman was so far down the mountain, crews had to tie two ropes together in order for rescuers to reach her.
Battalion Chief Bob Evans said the rescue took just under two hours. The woman was brought up in a basket, her condition better than expected.
“I’m amazed,” Evans expressed. “You don’t have these positive outcomes like this when you launch over the side and end up 700 feet, so she’s doing quite well.”
“I don’t know what her prognosis will be,” Evans said. “But she has an altered level of consciousness and some back pain, understandably.”
The woman was taken to a local hospital and the California Highway Patrol is investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident. In all, around three dozen people helped to make the “needle-in-the-haystack” rescue a success, according to Evans.
Given the dangerous rescue conditions of darkness and fog, any number of things could have gone wrong, yet the firefighters worked with poise and professionalism. “I’m proud of them,” Evans said.
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