Crime & Safety

VIDEO: Two Stranded Hikers Hoisted to Safety in Topanga State Park

A member of Malibu Search and Rescue helps guide in a L.A. County Fire helicopter using a laser and flashing lights.

Two stranded hikers were hoisted to safety by a L.A. County Fire helicopter Saturday from a ridge line in Topanga State Park.

The rescue began just after 7 p.m. Saturday, March 2, according to David Katz, public information officer for Los Angeles County Sheriff's Malibu Search and Rescue (SAR). The two hikers reported that they had been heading to Eagle Rock, a location near the Reseda Boulevard entrance.

Katz said he used a green laser and the flashing lights on his rescue truck at the entrance to the park to help guide in L.A. County Fire Copter 12. The firefighters then used night vision goggles and the hikers flashed their cellphones and were found.

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The copter then hoisted the hikers to safety.

"Thanks to ongoing training between Malibu SAR and L.A. County Fire we were able to communicate on their tactical frequencies to guide them," Katz said.

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The hikers, a man and a woman, were not hurt.

Malibu Search and Rescue Team members are reserve sheriff's deputies who volunteer for $1 per year and partner with civilian sheriff's volunteers who get no compensation.

Watch the video above provided by Malibu Search and Rescue of the hikers getting out of the helicopter after the rescue.


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