With all the recent meteor hysteria obsessing earth persons, it was just a matter of time before something would happen that would require rescuers to respond. A bizarre Jan. 10 operation in Arizona stands out.
The incident began at about 1630 HRS when employees at the Arizona Meteor Crater, located about 43 miles east of Flagstaff, reported that a trespasser had entered the crater. The call went first to the Flagstaff Police Department, which then relayed it to the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office. A sheriff’s deputy responded to investigate the trespassing report.
History of the Arizona Meteor Crater
One of the best preserved meteor strike craters in the world, the Arizona Meteor Crater is about 4,000 feet in diameter and about 600 feet deep. It was formed approximately 50,000 years ago when a 54-yard-wide nickel-iron meteorite slammed into the earth at high speed.
Believing that a huge trove of valuable metal lay beneath the crater floor, mining engineer and businessman Daniel Barringer staked a mining claim to the land in 1903. But after digging mine shafts, only small bits of the meteorite were ever found. It appears that after partial destruction by the earth’s atmosphere, and with its high-energy impact, the meteorite had mostly vaporized.
Today, the Barringer family still owns the land and operates the crater as a tourist attraction. To preserve the area for scientific research, entrance to the crater is forbidden.
Into the Mine Shaft
As the sheriff’s deputy was en route to the scene, Arizona Meteor Crater employees used binoculars to keep track of the trespasser. They watched him stroll across the crater bottom and apparently act erratically for about an hour. At one point, he came to a 7-foot-tall chain link fence topped with barbed wire that surrounded a deep mine shaft. He climbed to the top of the fence, jumped to the ground inside the enclosure and then leapt feet-first into the shaft. The situation was suddenly much more than a simple trespassing violation.
The employees reported that they thought the mine shaft was between 100 and 150 feet deep, but they were not certain. No one had been there in 75 years or so, and they were concerned about the stability in the area. The mine was never shored up; it was simply dug straight down into the crater.
The Coconino County Sheriff’s search and rescue (SAR) coordinator was notified, and at 1723 HRS, the Coconino County Sheriff’s SAR team was paged to respond by vehicles to the crater rim. At the time, the only information they had was that the individual was an adult male.
To save time and energy in getting people to the mine shaft, the SAR incident commander (IC) wanted the personnel and equipment to be transported by helicopter. The IC initially contacted the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which has a helicopter stationed at Flagstaff; however, that craft was down for maintenance and not available.
The IC next called Guardian Air Transport, a local helicopter EMS company, to see if they would be available for the logistical flights. Guardian accepted the mission and would respond from Flagstaff.
In addition to darkness, weather would complicate the operation. A winter storm was moving into the area, with sustained winds forecast at 30 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph. Snow was expected to start falling around 1930 HRS.
The facility had closed for the day so the deputy checking the parking lot only found an 18-wheeler semi. It was later determined that the trespasser had driven the truck there from California.
Establishing Command & Finding Resources
At 1930 HRS, the SAR team arrived at the crater and established their incident command post (ICP) at the Visitor’s Center. Guardian Air Transport arrived around the same time.
At 1951 HRS, Guardian began the first of three shuttle flights to transport six SAR personnel, a deputy and a meteor crater staff member down into the bottom of the crater. Once at the crater bottom, responders found footprints leading to the shaft. They then cut through the fencing around the shaft. Fearing the worst, they yelled down the shaft. Amazingly, a voice came back.
The shaft was approximately 12 feet wide and 100 feet deep. It had been dug by hand in the early 1900s and abandoned when the diggers hit water and quicksand.
The man in the shaft said he had dislocated or broken his right arm and complained of severe pain to both of his legs. He also mentioned episodes of loss of consciousness.
Because of the depth of the shaft and due to the high wind, rescuers were having difficulty communicating with the man. They put a radio in a rope bag and lowered it on a 7/16″ rope. They also lowered food, water, warm clothing and a flashlight.
Devising a Rescue Plan
The rescuers now faced the challenge of how to get the man out of the shaft. One problem: There was nothing to anchor rescue gear to. The soft ground is covered by sand and small rocks, with no trees or boulders. A fence surrounds the shaft, but the rescuers didn’t know how deep the fence poles were sunk into the ground or what kind of shape they were in.
The IC called a SAR volunteer in town who had recently retired from a local hardware store and asked him if he could call the manager to see if they could open the store (since it was after business hours) and buy about 15 T-Posts and a driver to create a picket anchor system. (T-Posts, commonly used in fence construction, are durable metal rails several feet long. At their bottom is a tightly welded anchor plate to minimize sideways or rotational movement.)
With concerns about the air quality in the shaft, and also needing additional rope rescue expertise, the IC requested mutual aid from Flagstaff Fire Department Special Operations Team (FFD SOT) at 2032 HRS. The FFD SOT responded with four firefighters, along with their air-monitoring equipment and an Arizona Vortex to use as a high-directional. Further, at 2054 HRS, the IC requested mutual aid from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Mountain Rescue Posse for abandoned mine rescue personnel.
With falling temperatures, the situation was becoming increasingly urgent. The rescue group supervisor reported that the man was becoming hypothermic and less responsive through radio contact.
Moving into Action
At 2248 HRS, Flagstaff Fire Department personnel arrived at the ICP. However, 40-mph sustained winds, snow and icing conditions prevented helo flight. So at 2356 HRS, the four Flagstaff firefighters, along with four Coconino County SAR personnel, began hiking into the crater, carrying the Arizona Vortex, air-monitoring equipment, and additional patient care and rescue equipment.
Once onsite, rescuers rigged two picket systems–one for the main line, the other for the belay system. The T-Posts were placed in series, alternating between two pickets and then one. The pickets were then connected by small-diameter rope running from the base of a picket (or pickets) to the top of the next picket (or pickets).
By 0119 HRS, the rescuers had constructed the picket anchors and set up the Arizona Vortex. Once they had checked the air for toxic gases–and found none–the rescuers began lowering one of the Flagstaff firefighters into the shaft. They did this using a brake-bar rack, with a separate belay controlled with a CMC MPD device. The firefighter had a full-body harness, and took down a LS Half Back. The rescuers then lowered a second firefighter to assist with the packaging.
Caring for the Patient
The two firefighters worked under difficult and challenging conditions to assess the patient, splint affected extremities, stabilize him in the Half Back and rig him for raising. In addition to the cramped quarters, darkness and cold temperatures, dirt and sand kept falling from the unstable shaft surface, creating a dusty atmosphere.
Once the rescuers secured the patient in the Half Back, rescuers at the surface began a raise using a 5:1 MA haul system constructed of pulleys and Prusiks. At 0203 HRS, the rescuers had hauled the patient and attendant out of the mine shaft. They then lowered the line back down to raise the second firefighter.
With the assessment at the surface, the biggest medical concern became hypothermia. Rescuers wrapped the patient in a sleeping bag and packaged him in a titanium litter.
At 0210 HRS, the IC called Guardian for a possible fly out of the patient from crater floor to a hospital. Guardian soon came back with the news: It was a no-go for the helicopter. The weather was below the safe minimum. This would mean a litter carry-out of the 200-lb. patient.
By this time, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Abandoned Mine Rescue Team had arrived from Phoenix to assist. Still, it would be an exhausting slog carrying the litter via a primitive, not-often-used trail about one mile long, and climbing some 600 vertical feet, from the floor of the crater to the parking lot. At 0309 HRS, rescuers began the litter-carry from the crater floor to the ICP.
Two hours later, rescuers reached the parking lot and transferred the patient to Guardian Ground Ambulance. Guardian transported him to Flagstaff Medical Center, where he was admitted in stable condition and treated for his injuries.
Meteors Never Strike Twice in the Same Spot?
When interviewed Saturday morning in the hospital, the man explained that he had told by God to save himself from an impeding meteor strike, and that he would reemerge to rebuild the earth from the destruction. Perhaps thinking meteors never strike twice in the same place, he had sought shelter in the most prominent meteor crater in North America.
Sources: Aaron Dick, Coconino County Sheriff sergeant and SAR coordinator, provided information for this report. Some additional details were taken from accounts of the incident in the Arizona Daily Sun, KPHO-TV and azfamily.com.
Lessons Learned/Lessons Reinforced:
Sergeant Dick provides the following observations:
– “Conduct a good risk assessment.
– “Recognize when a situation may exceed your capability. In this case, our team had not trained for abandoned mine shaft rescue or confined space rescue. To mitigate those issues, we requested assistance from Flagstaff Fire Department and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
– “Establish good working relationships and train with other agencies before an incident. In October 2012, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Mountain Rescue Team and the Flagstaff Fire Department Special Operations Team had conducted a joint training involving the use of the Arizona Vortex. That proved to be very valuable on this mission, as we employed the Arizona Vortex in the rescue. The personnel were familiar with each other and each other’s equipment. As an MRA team Coconino County Sheriff’s SAR has a good working relationship with Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Mountain Rescue Posse.
– “Be flexible. We had never used a picket anchor system other than in some snow operations. We were able to think about the anchoring options as we were driving out to the incident and discuss the options and ultimately settled on the picket anchor system.”
