Thirteen hikers, including children, rescued from high heat on Arizona trail
By Brammhi Balarajan, CNN
(CNN) — A group of 13 hikers were rescued from an Arizona trail Friday morning amid scorching heat, with a helicopter used to airlift one 10-year-old to the hospital, according to authorities.
An 18-month-old and 12-month-old were also treated at a hospital for heat exhaustion, officials said.
Friday saw extreme temperatures in Arizona, with Scottsdale reaching a high of 108°F.
The hikers, who were in town for a family reunion, set off on the Gateway Loop Trail at around 7:30 a.m. The fire department was dispatched at around 10 a.m. for the rescue.
The group was found hunkered down under a tree several miles away from the trail head in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, the Scottsdale Fire Department said in a news release.
The decision to use the helicopter in the rescue operation underscored the seriousness of the event, according to Scottsdale Fire Capt. Dave Folio.
“That’s a low frequency/high risk event for us,” Folio told CNN affiliate KNXV. “If we make a decision to fly somebody off the mountain, they need to get off the mountain, so we’ve done that successfully,” he added.
The rescue teams also used a “big wheel operation” to transport one of the adult hikers to the hospital, using a gurney with one large wheel and a mountain bike-style tire.
The family had run out of water and their phones were out of charge at the time of the rescue, according to KNXV.
Folio told KNXV Scottsdale officials choose not to close the trails during extreme heat, instead opting to educate hikers and tourists about proper preparation for using the trail system.
The McDowell Sonoran Preserve is more than 30,500 contiguous acres, about 15 miles northeast of Scottsdale.
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