Rope rescue crews lift an injured person to safety early Saturday morning at Mossyrock Dam.
Rope rescue crews lift an injured person to safety early Saturday morning at Mossyrock Dam.
t in a rocky area near Mossyrock Dam early Saturday morning was lifted 50 feet up a rock face with the help of a crane loaned from the City of Tacoma, Lewis County Fire District 3 Chief Doug Fosburg said.
The first 911 call came in at 5:36 a.m., according to Lewis County 911 Communications records, reporting an incident at Mossyrock Dam and a person suffering fractures.
Dispatchers initially toned out Lewis County Fire District 8 in Salkum, Fosburg said, thinking the incident happened closer to Mayfield Dam.
Fire District 3 was dispatched, and at 5:50 a.m., the Lewis County Tactical Rescue Team was also summoned to the site. Lewis County Medic One also responded. The Chehalis Fire Department is the lead agency for the team.
Chehalis Chief Ken Cardinale reported Saturday morning team members used a rope rescue system to rescue the victim, who reportedly had multiple broken bones.
“It was a broken femur,” Fosburg said.
The man was reportedly trying to fish at the location before falling.
“He was never on the dam, it was the rocks that they fish from there,” Fosburg said. “He decided rather than to take the walking path to the water, he decided to climb down the rocks.”
The man fell about 15 feet, but had to be lifted 50 feet to an area where responders could treat him.
He was airlifted to Tacoma General Hospital.
