Thunder Bay – NEWS – On May 22nd at approximately 7:30 pm, Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue were requested to assist Thunder Bay Police Service in a search for a lost hiker in the Nor’Wester Mountain Range near Coppin Road.
Thunder Bay Fire Rescue Platoon Chief Dan Coulter reports that the hiker’s cell phone had lost power after she initially called her boyfriend. From that point forward no contact was able to be made with her by police or fire personnel.
Fire fighters used maps and previous knowledge of the trail system to organize a systematic search of the area.
Thunder Bay Fire Rescue deployed their Polaris Ranger (UTV1) to aid fire fighters in the gaining access through obstructions along trails. Because of heavy rains due to a thunder storm, trails had become a series of rushing water run off and deep puddles. Firefighters branched off in multiple directions to search for the victim.
After an exhaustive search lasting several hours, firefighters were finally able to locate and rescue the hiker 4.5 km away at the top of a trail.
The female hiker was uninjured when found by fire fighters who safely removed her from the mountain trail. Fire fighters transferred the hiker to waiting EMS personnel for additional medical assessment at the scene.
TBFR responded to this incident with two pumpers truck crews and a UTV all terrain vehicle was also deployed to this incident.
