SEATTLE – At 3:46 p.m., the Seattle Fire Department’s Fire Alarm Center received a report of a hiker who had fallen approximately 40 feet down an embankment in Discovery Park.
Crews were able to make verbal contact with the patient, who reported a minor injury and was sitting on a narrow shelf awaiting rescue.
Firefighters organized into three divisions, positioned at the top of the hillside, along the trail and on the beach below. Working from these different vantage points, crews communicated conditions and coordinated a plan to safely reach the patient.
Dense brush and steep terrain made access challenging. Firefighters used machetes and chainsaws to clear a path and establish a rope system.
Firefighters from Rescue Company 1, assisted by Ladder 8, were harnessed and lowered down the embankment to the patient. Once they reached him, crews secured the patient in a Stokes basket and began lowering him to the beach below, where firefighters and medics were staged.
At 5:25 p.m., the patient was safely brought to the ground and transferred to medics for evaluation. The approximately 19-year-old male reported only minor injuries from the initial fall and declined transport to a hospital.
All firefighters safely exited the hillside and were removed from the rope system without incident.
In total, Engine 20, Engine 41, Ladder 8, Ladder 9, Medic 18, Aid 14, a Medical Services Officer, Battalion Chiefs from Battalions 4 and 6, the Safety Chief and the Public Information Officer responded. Due to the incident’s proximity to the water, a fireboat and rescue boat were also briefly dispatched.
