Penticton firefighters, Eclipse Helicopters and Penticton and District Search and Rescue teams safely extricated an injured mountain biker from the Three Blind Mice trails late Saturday afternoon.
Related: Four rescued in Manning Park
Penticton Fire Department received the call about the injured woman just before 4:30 p.m. With the approaching darkness and the extent of the injuries it was decided to contact Penticton and District Search and Rescue to arrange for the services of a helicopter to long line the woman out.
“It was late in the day and the guys went in there with our new UTV (utility task vehicle) and the captain made the decision that basically we could either try to bring her out ourselves which was expected to be several hours, or requesting the helicopter which would just be more expedient,” said deputy fire chief Chris Forster.
With the help of the woman’s friend, firefighters had managed to locate the victim about 100 metres inside the gates of the trail just off Naramata Road .
Related: Young ATV rider taken to hospital by PENSAR
Eclipse Chief pilot and president Derek Robinson got the call and was airborne just after 6 p.m. to make the short flight from Penticton Regional Airport to the scene where five members of the PENSAR long line rescue team helped with the rescue.
“It was a multi-agency, mutual aid call out that worked the way it was supposed to, accolades to the fire department and everyone else,” said Robinson. “We expedited it because of the urgency of the incident but also it was pushing daylight to get it done. When you have darkness it changes the parameters for us as pilots.”
The victim was airlifted about a half a kilometre from the accident scene to the D’Angelo Estate Winery field where a waiting ambulance took her to Penticton Regional Hospital.
The extent of the injuries was not available.
To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.
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Mark Brett | Reporter
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