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Phoenix Fire: Hiker falls 75-100 feet on Camelback Mountain

Posted at 5:12 PM, Apr 16, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-17 20:46:00-04

The Phoenix Fire Department says a hiker was rescued after falling 100 feet down Camelback Mountain.

Fire crews were called to the Echo Canyon trailhead area Sunday afternoon after a 14-year-old girl said her brother was in need of assistance.

According to a Phoenix spokesperson, an 18-year-old man fell and suffered critical injuries.

He was hiking off the trail with his sister when the incident occurred, officials said. The area is known as the "suicide trail" and is typically where base jumpers jump. 

Authorities said the man fell in an extremely difficult area to access. Technical rescue crews had to combine three rescue techniques to get him out, which is very rare, Captain Rob McDade with Phoenix fire explained.

"He was in an area where the helicopter could not get directly above him because of the canyon wall," McDade said. "It was in a steep terrain so we used ropes to get him out of the area. We used the actual stokes basket to remove him to an area where we could actually get a long line up."

Miguel Lopez, a hiker who was also exploring the trail Sunday, said he saw the victim fall. 

"It's terrifying — especially because I hike pretty avidly myself," Lopez said. "I heard a scream. I assumed it was just kids playing on the mountain."

It took about a half hour for Phoenix Fire to get the injured man off of the mountain. Nearly 40 firefighters with the technical rescue team assisted with the rescue.

No additional information has been released at this time.

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