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Firefighters rescue hikers from Bishop Peak

October 20, 2014
The view of San Luis Obispo from Bishop's Peak

The view of San Luis Obispo from Bishop’s Peak

Two fire agencies teamed up with an air rescue service to save a couple hikers who lost track of time and their location Saturday evening on Bishop Peak in San Luis Obispo.

Around 8 p.m., the San Luis Obispo Fire Department received a call from two college-aged students who were trapped on the North Face of Bishop Peak. They said that they were uninjured, but they could not safely find their way back to the trail in the dark.

Earlier in the day, the pair had climbed to a lookout spot at the top of a climbing face of the peak.

San Luis Obispo firefighters responded along with a CalFire crew and a helicopter operated by the nonprofit rescue service, CalStar. The San Luis Obispo dispatch center used cell phone towers to approximate the location of the two, and the victims’ cell phone light aided the search process.

Emergency personnel rescued the pair and brought them down to the trail around 10:45 p.m. No injuries occurred during the rescue, and authorities did not issue any citations. However, in some cases of rescues necessitated by neglectful actions, the victims are charged.

The rescue effort involved three engines, two battalion chiefs, 15 firefighters and the lone helicopter.


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getting paid over $100k a year waiting for that adrenalin rush!


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I don’t know about these two, but I stopped being scared of the dark at about 5 years old. Come on! lost in the dark? Sit down and wait till morning!


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Stranded in the dark up there…


TWO options. 1: Call a friend and have them hike up with a flashlight.

2: Stay put until light enough to see. You aren’t going to freeze to death.


NON-OPTION: Calling for a freaking rescue. .


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No kidding. Thankfully CalFire seems to have called Calstar to provide the airlift rather than use the county S&R helicoper, which means those kids will likely be getting a hefty bill rather than taxpayers…


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Yeah I have to go with the first commenter… I’d really like to know if they had a smart phone, because if so they not only had a flashlight but a GPS and Google Earth. So let’s say they didn’t have a smart phone, WHY do you need to use a helicopter?!


They may have been morons but it would be absolutely unfair to charge them when it would have been very easy to send a couple guys up there on foot to help them down.


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15 Firefighters!!?? Well, beats polishing the engine to earn your $100K per year.


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hijinks….ignorant comment.


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do you ever stop shilling?


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Well GOOD for these kids. They weren’t one of the throngs of drunk loser college kids sucking valuable air from us or the handful who needed their stomachs pumped in ER this weekend. They stretched what they knew and very wisely threw in the towel when they realized they’d made a mistake. Accidents happen….lighten up people!


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Yes. By ALL MEANS use a flashlight of a cell phone because it’s safe and no one would need a cell phone up thete.. Unless they NEEDED IT FOR COMMUNICATION like they gage an example of. Next time they should call YOU and you can go rescue them with your Cell phone Flashlight. Seriously. They s a allowed their pride and did the right thing asking for help.


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My cell phone has a flashlight app. that I downloaded… these are the folks who will be running the country in 20 years – should be interesting.


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Can’t be any more interesting than those who are running the country now!


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What about the folks running the country right now who couldn’t just send a couple guys up on foot but instead thought that 15 firefighters and a helicopter were necessary. Older people are always complaining about the youth of today, but I’m not so convinced the youth are the problem.


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I agree!


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