A woman was rescued on Mount Bald4y about 45 miles northeast of Los Angeles last weekend after hikers spotted her truck. The woman had been trapped five days in cold and wet conditions.
Hikers spotted her wrecked Ford Ranger on Sunday in a canyon off the roadway at around 12:30 p.m. Firefighters then extricated her from the truck, Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Fred Fielding told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
The woman was airlifted, and her current condition remains unknown to the public. Authorities didn’t specify the nature of her injuries.
The woman and her truck plunged 100 feet down a hill away from Mount Baldy Road, the Los Angeles County Fire Department told the McClatchy news service. The mountain is inside Angeles National Forest, and forest officials said she was fortunate to survive.
“It’s been extremely cold and wet, as we’re all aware. … She’s lucky that somebody was going for a hike and found her. The accident, itself, is very common on these mountain roads. … But her surviving it, not only just the accident, but also the elements, is a New Year’s miracle,” U.S. Forest Service Engine Capt. Matt Brossard told KNBC.
The woman, unnamed by authorities, told first responders she had been driving north on Mount Baldy Road Wednesday night when a deer ran into the roadway, causing her to swerve and crash off the road, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office Lt. William Fillpot told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
Until her discovery by the hikers, there was no sign she had gone off the road.
“No one saw her go over the side, no evidence of tire tracks or anything on the road or on the side of the road. So, she was very lucky they happened to come by and hear her,” LACFD Capt. Ian Thrall told KCBS-TV.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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