Woman Rescued After Being Trapped by Snowfall

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Sunday, November 27, 2016 at about 11:25 a.m. the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a woman stuck in a fifth wheel trailer that was snowed in approximately 30 miles out on Route 1.  The rescuee had been in the trailer since Friday, November 25, 2016.  She had no means of evacuating herself from the area after a heavy snowfall.

Special Services Deputies responded and realized they were unable to drive to woman’s location.  A snow cat was deployed on Monday morning from the area of Hwy 36 in Mad River while units responded via 4-wheel drive truck from Hwy 299, Titlow Hill.  The Sheriff’s Office snow cat was unable to continue due to snow levels at approximately mile marker 44 on Route 1.  Deputies were unable to go beyond mile marker 20 from Hwy 299 due to snow levels, and snow drifts were too much to push through from the Hwy 36 side.

PG&E was contacted on Monday and assistance was requested for use of their snow cat.  They responded at 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning.  The lengthy response for the PG&E snow cat was due to road conditions.  Deputies, with the assistance of PG&E, responded to the area of mile marker 30 of Route 1.  They searched the area described by the reporting party throughout the night and were unable to locate the subject.

CHP helicopter landing beside rural road

CHP helicopter landing beside rural road. [Photo provided by a reader earlier this year.]

Later that morning, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) airbase in Redding was contacted and assistance was requested.  At about 11:30 a.m. the CHP helicopter arrived at the command station and met with deputies.  At about 12:23 p.m. the CHP helicopter located the rescuee.  Due to low fuel levels, the helicopter had to refuel in Arcata before it would be able to extricate the rescuee.  The CHP helicopter returned to the scene and hoisted the rescuee from her location.

The rescuee was taken to a local hospital where she was medically cleared.  She was running out of supplies and the situation would have become dire if she had not been rescued.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to send a generous thank you to the local PG&E office and the California Highway Patrol for their assistance in extricating this individual.

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14 Comments
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chuck
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chuck
7 years ago

What an idiot. This boils my blood. Have your head screwed on and learn to wipe your own butt before you risk other lives for your stupidity. 30 miles out the 1 this time of year is ridiculous!

Yikes
Guest
Yikes
7 years ago
Reply to  chuck

I hear your frustration, we all f up sometimes tho and the weather forecast had said maybe an inch so that 6 inch snowfall took a lot of folks by surprise.

That said, we should all have a good if not super big emergency supply of food and necessities on hand. We are going to have a big earthquake at some point, and watching the quakes around the world in the last few months makes it seem very plausible it will happen sooner than later.
Either way to be smart keep 2 weeks of food if possible, extra full propane bottle that is only for emergencies, etc. Take a moment and really look at what you would need to hunker down for a week or two based on your food needs, heating source, water system, etc. There may be no communication for awhile in an intense natural disaster so having a chopper come get you out will probably not be an option.
Take this situation as a reminder to be prepared!

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
7 years ago

I did something stupid once, which only proves it could happen.
I’m glad she’s okay.

Sparklemahn
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Sparklemahn
7 years ago

Did many stupid things, Ernie. You are way smarter than me.

Three six nation
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Three six nation
7 years ago

Wonder how many folks don’t have service and are stuck .this year I think gonna be a good snow fall there’s a lot up there on s.fork got stuck today with my trailer on in dinsmore . Get your wood cut and stock up on some food . Its only gonna get colder and the snow getting deeper good job to the rescuers

Crime stopper
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Crime stopper
7 years ago

Can’t stop stupid!!

Sparklemahn
Guest
Sparklemahn
7 years ago
Reply to  Crime stopper

Explains how Trump got elected.

Delta
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Delta
7 years ago

Thanks for getting the story on this, Kym. And thanks for the response to my email as well. You’re an excellent reporter.

I wad wondering what was going on. I’d been listening to this on Monday on the scanner, but couldn’t figure out where it was.

Jason
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Jason
7 years ago

Now we know who has the “baddest” snow cat in Humboldt. Thumbs up PG&E
Let this be a lesson to everyone how you can get shut in or out of some areas in this county for the entire winter.

chuck
Guest
chuck
7 years ago

Lots of newbies in the hills so if I can save first responders some headache then it is worth it. If you were surprised by this last snow there will be a lot more. If your road got snow and wasn’t plowed it won’t be and you will be stuck for an amount of time. Last year at Christmas the snow was 1000ft lower and was 24 inches deep and it stayed for a few weeks. If you got 8+ inches on the road you travel this last storm the next one will close it and it might not open till April or May. If you think you can pull it off, my first time being snowed in for 6 months in these mountains kicked my ass and I taught wilderness survival in these hills with dogsled camping experience down to minus 50 degrees, the heavy wet snow here is a killer. If you have a structure that is unrated for heavy snow loads it will collapse, my first winter was on the roof shoveling snow to prevent that and I lost the outdoor structure I had all my supplies in and when it caved in my supplies all got wet. My water lines froze most of the time with no water for weeks. Mice move in and can ruin a lot of food stores if the are not mouse proof. That was long before cell towers, so I know the isolation of no hope of contact, cell towers go down every winter, sometimes for weeks. If any of this concerns you you are not prepared, get out now and go find a warm beach in Mexico for the winter. The real hurt looks like it starts next Thursday and everything should be locked up for winter after that so act now. Leave a post here if you are uncertain, it is anonymous.

Sparklemahn
Guest
Sparklemahn
7 years ago
Reply to  chuck

Excellent post. As a former Boy Scout, the idea of being prepared is ingrained.

G-ma
Guest
G-ma
7 years ago

So glad she’s safe.no matter the circumstances a human being is safe.thank you to all our emergency crews who risk their lifes,to save ours your rock stars☆☆☆☆☆

TAMMIE MCGRADY
Guest
TAMMIE MCGRADY
7 years ago

DID THE WOMAN MAKE SOME CARELESS, IF NOT STUPID DECISIONS? YES, I DID. WITH THAT SAID I WOULD LIKE TO POST MY SINCERE, MOST HEARTFELT THANK YOU TO ALL. THE PERSONS WHO COORDINATED MY RESCUE WITH THE CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL, HUMBOLDT COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE AND PG&E PERSONNEL. THE MANY PRAYERS THAT WERE SAID. . .
MOST IMPORTANTLY, I THANK MY HIGHER POWER WHO KEPT THE PERSON SAFE THAT WALKED 14 MILES THRU THE SNOW TO GET HELP… 2 DAYS AND 2 NIGHTS THEY WALKED. WITHOUT THAT PERSON, I WOULD NOT BE BLESSED TO BE HERE.

MAY ALL HAVE A BLESSED HOLIDAY SEASON AND PLEASE, REMEMBER THAT EACH PERSON WHO WALKS THIS EARTH HAS A JOURNEY TO MAKE……I TRULY TRY TO RESPECT EACH PERSONS JOURNEY, ALONG WITH THE DRUM THEY BEAT. I WALK AWAY FROM THIS EXPERIENCE WITH THIS THOUGHT. TO LOVE ALL PERSONS IN MY LIFE AND TO FORGIVE WHERE I HAVE REFUSED TO FORGIVE, USUALLY DUE TO A INFLATED SENSE OF SELF.
LASTLY, I WILL DO THESE TWO THINGS FOR ME.

LOVE AND FORGIVE MYSELF.