New Equipment Helping Technical Teams As Weather Warms Up
GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) - As the weather gets nicer, more and more people are going to be hitting the trails trying to enjoy everything Colorado has to offer. Unfortunately that also means greater risk of people getting stuck or getting injured and needing to be rescued.
"A lot of injured hikers especially during the spring runoff," Golden Fire Lt. Jason Mulari said.
On Friday, two women were hiking and climbing in Clear Creek Canyon when one of them fell and was injured. Calls like these are challenging for firefighters because they have to climb rugged terrain with a lot of gear, so it takes a while to get to a patient.
"It took us approximately and hour and a half to two hours just to get to her," Mulari said.
Thanks to modern technology fire departments are hoping to change that. Both Golden Fire and West Metro Fire have drones they can use to help them.
"Everything from locating a lost hiker or climber on the west side of town. During tech rescue incidents sometimes we don't have good intelligence as far as what's up above the party that may have fallen off a rock so we can fly up high see if there's any place to anchor ropes versus having to hike so it actually cuts down on our time," explained West Metro Fire Engineer Greg Bergin.
Friday, West Metro used their drone to try to find a safe place for a Flight for Life helicopter to land. When that was deemed impossible, they used it to scout the safest way out of the canyon for the firefighters, their patient and all of their gear.
They say any help they can get is appreciated.
"Any type of equipment that helps us do our job is an advantage," Mulari said.
West Metro reminds you if you have access to a drone, leave it at home while they are working. You're only getting in their way and they don't need your footage.