Woman Rescued After Falling 250 Feet Down Ravine
October 22nd, 2012At 1:05pm on October 19th, 2012, Battalion 7 Fire Agencies- Quint 76 (Rodeo-Hercules Fire Protection District), Engine 73 (Pinole Fire Department), Engine and Rescue 69 (Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, El Sobrante) responded to a reported vertical rope rescue near 236 Oriole Ct. in Hercules. Upon arrival, a witness reported that she received a text message from the adult female victim that had fallen into a ravine to the rear of Oriole Ct. Quint 76 and Engine 73 firefighters climbed to the bottom of the steep drainage and located the victim 1500 yards from the reported location.
Firefighter/paramedics provided emergency medical care while rescuers developed a plan to extricate the patient. Our personnel accessed the area above the patient with a 4WD rescue vehicle and constructed a rope system to pull the victim up a steep 250 ft. embankment. The victim was rescued without incident. The patient was transferred to an awaiting ambulance for transport to the hospital. Eleven Firefighters and one Battalion Chief responded to this rescue call.
Low and high angle rope rescues are part of the specialized “technical rescue” capabilities of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. We participate as a partner with our West County fire agencies to provide fire, emergency medical, and rescue services to the communities of western Contra Costa County.