HELENA — The Helena Fire Department rescued a stranded climber Monday morning on Mount Helena and a hiker on Mount Ascension.
Around 10:00 AM, Helena Fire received a report of an individual stranded cliff side on Mount Helena. Upon arrival, crews found a climber with no rope or harness approximately 150 feet off the ground.
Helena Fire’s Lt. Matt Welch was lowered to the victim where he was able to apply a harness to prevent the victim from falling. Welch and the climber were lowered to the ground where the victim was able to descend under their own power.
At the same time, Helena Fire was dispatched to a stranded hiker on Mount Ascension with a lower extremity injury. Crews arrived to find a patient with a probable broken leg needing medical care and assistance to the trailhead. An engine company and EMS crew carried the patient approximately 500 yards in a rescue litter to the waiting ambulance.
Mutual aid response included Lewis & Clark County Search and Rescue and St. Peter’s EMS.
