Quick Take
A person in their early 20s was airlifted to a trauma center after falling an estimated 80 feet from a tree near UC Santa Cruz on Saturday, according to Cal Fire officials. A second person who had climbed the tree to help was later rescued unharmed.
One person was hospitalized over the weekend after falling 80 feet from a tree near UC Santa Cruz.
Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit spokesperson Cecile Juliette told Lookout on Monday that the person was in their early 20s but said she didn’t know their condition or their identity, including whether they were a UCSC student.
Cal Fire was called Saturday at 4:01 p.m. for a tree rescue, and the Santa Cruz city fire department was first on the scene. The tree is located across from Heller Drive on Empire Grade in a cow pasture.
Juliette said one person climbed the tree, got stuck and then began calling for help. A second person heard the cries for help and called 911 before climbing the tree to assist and also became stuck. Juliette said she didn’t know if the two individuals knew each other.
Santa Cruz firefighters then arrived on the scene, and as they were determining how to do the rescue, one person fell from the tree from a height of 80 feet. The person hit several branches during the fall before free-falling the last 30 feet or so, Juliette said
They landed on a thick layer of branches and leaves that might have helped cushion the fall more than bare ground would have, according to Juliette. First responders called an air ambulance, which landed at the scene and transported the person to a trauma center.
The second individual was safely rescued by a Santa Cruz city firefighter who climbed a 35-foot ladder to retrieve them, according to Juliette.
She said she didn’t know why the first individual climbed up the tree and for how long they were stuck.
Earlier that same day, Cal Fire officials responded to another critical incident in the Bonny Doon area. They were called to assist search-and-rescue crews who located a fallen cyclist in need of assistance.
“We worked alongside those crews to quickly and efficiently extricate the injured bicyclist, who was then taken to an awaiting air ambulance,” Cal Fire wrote in a social media post on Sunday.
Juliette didn’t know the condition of the cyclist.
Have news that should be in Lookout Briefs? Send your news releases, including contact information, to news@lookoutlocal.com.
