Two horseback volunteers with Tuolumne County Sheriff s Search and Rescue rode in darkness into Grouse Lake in the Emigrant Wilderness early Monday to help a 69-year-old man in distress who
CAL Fire helicopter 404 at Columbia Air Base
Tuolumne County, CA – A group of 14 backpackers, some teens, had to be rescued from the Emigrant Wilderness after a wicked storm blew through the area.
CAL Fire reports that the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue (TCSAR) team and its Columbia-based helicopter evacuated the hikers to safety. The rescue took place on Thursday (July 1), but a 911 personal locator beacon alert came into the sheriff’s dispatch, late Wednesday (June 30). They detailed that a sudden severe thunderstorm producing heavy rain, hail and lightning, leaving some in the group needing medical attention.
Meanwhile, in the Big Oak Flat area near Groveland, Cal Fire ground and aircraft were battling the ten-acre Vernal Fire, detailed here.
Rescuers were dispatched after someone in the group activated a 911 personal locator beacon. Author: Matthew Nuttle Updated: 9:26 PM PDT July 2, 2021
TUOLUMNE COUNTY, Calif. Fourteen backpackers were rescued from the Emigrant Wilderness in Tuolumne County after getting caught in a severe thunderstorm on Wednesday.
Rescuers were dispatched after someone in the group activated a 911 personal locator beacon. The area the backpackers were hiking was caught in a thunderstorm that produced hail.
The hikers were all between the ages of 15 and 22, and rescuers said some of the teens were suffering from hypothermia and needed immediate evacuation.
Fortunately, Cal Fire was working a wildfire near Groveland, Calif., and released one of their Firehawk helicopters to the Tuolumne County Search and Rescue team (TCSAR).