January 28 – Around midnight, San Bernardino County Fire units responded to a person trapped in a mine shaft off of Sheep Creek Road and Hwy 2 in Wrightwood.

Upon arrival, firefighters found an adult male victim approximately 200 feet at the bottom of a vertical shaft that was 4 feet by 4 feet wide. The victim was climbing down a ladder in the shaft when he fell between 70 to 120 feet, breaking his leg.

San Bernardino County Fire’s Technical Rescue Team responded and methodically set up an intricate lowering and hoisting system to enable a rescuer to reach the victim and raise them both to the surface safely. It took firefighters about 45 minutes to complete the rescue of the victim once the system was set up. The victim was treated at scene by County Fire paramedics and transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton for further treatment of his injuries.

Many County firefighter/paramedics are cross-trained to be USAR (technical rescue) specialist, which allows for rapid access and immediate emergency medical care to be delivered to the victim.

San Bernardino County Fire Department strongly recommends that people stay away from these vertical shafts as they not only present a serious fall hazard, but may not have adequate ventilation resulting in an oxygen deficient or toxic atmosphere which frequently results in serious injury or death.

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