DEEP CREEK — Two people were hoisted from the Deep Creek area of unincorporated San Bernardino County on Tuesday, marking the fourth and fifth incidents in the area since April.
The first incident began around 9:40 a.m. when San Bernardino County Fire officials announced through their Twitter account that a hoist rescue was needed at the Deep Creek Hot Springs and that one of the Sheriff's Department's helicopters was being called to the scene. The Sheriff's helicopter arrived and County Fire officials said the man was rescued at 10:25 a.m. and was suffering from a possibly broken hip after he jumped off rocks into a shallow pool, County Fire officials told the Daily Press. He was transported to a landing zone at Bowen Ranch where he was then taken by ground to a local hospital.
About five hours later, a second victim was reported to be needing a hoist rescue near Aztec Falls in the northeastern portion of Deep Creek, near Lake Arrowhead. County Fire Department officials and scanner traffic around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday reported that first responders hoisted a teenager with a foot injury who was reportedly "in and out of consciousness" from the area near Aztec Falls. Scanner traffic reported the teen was roughly one mile from the falls. A San Bernardino County Sheriff's helicopter equipped with a hoist was requested, and was on its way by 3 p.m.
The boy was hoisted out safely around 3:45 p.m. and transported to Mountains Community Hospital. He reportedly hurt his foot while hiking in the area. The afternoon hoist rescue is Tuesday's second, and the third in the past two weeks in the Deep Creek area.
The injury is the most recent in a string of injuries and deaths of people recreating in the area. In the past three months, four people have been injured or killed in the area by either drowning or jumping into shallow water and injuring themselves.
Authorities have been urging residents to exercise caution and make good decisions when out in the back-country areas of the county. Water levels are dropping due to the drought, and injuries from cliff-jumping are common this season.
The incident comes exactly one week after a girl was hoisted from a remote area of Deep Creek with serious injuries after landing on her back in the water. An 8-year-old boy drowned near the Deep Creek Spillway on May 24 and a 15-year-old Apple Valley High School student died after jumping off rocks into the water on April 24.