Phoenix rescue crews make multiple morning trips up Camelback Mountain

PHOENIX — The rescue team for the Phoenix Fire Department spent Friday morning going up and down Camelback Mountain, helping hikers in four separate calls.

The first save on a sunny, fair morning sent the firefighters to Echo Canyon Trail, to bring back a 17-year-old girl who had injured her ankle. By 10:30 a.m. the teen had been strapped into a big wheel stretcher, department officials said.

Later, a 65-year-old hiker became became weak and dizzy on the mountain. His family told firefighters he had already passed out several times by the time help arrived.

A helicopter was determined to be the best way to bring him to safety.

By 11 a.m., the technical rescue teams has sent a helicopter to get a 51-year-old man off Cholla Trail. A department email said an off-duty firefighter had come across the hiker, who was weak and possibly had suffered a seizure.

He was wrapped up in a special helicopter rescue suit and flown to crew members waiting on the ground.

The teams returned to Cholla Trail once more.

They made sure a 67-year-old woman got back to safe pavement after she was feeling faint and had trouble walking. The team walked with her down the rest of the trail.

Phoenix rescue crews made 279 mountain rescues in 2016. Last year, there were 259.

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