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Injured Woman Rescued from Lava Cave

Coconino County AZ Search and Rescue team responds to Lava River Cave emergency call.

Sedona AZ – On July 13, 2019, at 11:55 a.m., the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue received a Lava River Cave emergency call for help. The lava tube cave is off Forest Service Road #171 in northern Arizona’s Coconino National Forest and is managed by the USFS.

The emergency caller explained that a Phoenix woman had fallen and sustained an apparent hip injury. The injury could necessitate a technical rescue so CCSO SAR with assistance from Guardian Medical and Ponderosa Fire Department responded to the scene.

CCSO Search and Rescue in action.

On scene, units determined the forty-three year old woman may have suffered a left hip fracture and due to her injury was unable to walk out. Search and Rescue removed the patient by technical rescue and a basket carryout at 2:00 in the afternoon. She was transported to Flagstaff Medical Center for further evaluation and treatment of the injury.

The CCSO would like to remind spelunkers and other visitors that slippery and rocky conditions in the lava tube contributed to this woman’s fall. Proper footwear, lighting and warm clothing are necessities when traversing the Lava River Cave, a 3/4 mile volcanic lava tube formation. There is no USFS admittance fee.

CCSO thanks Guardian Medical and the Ponderosa Fire District for their assistance in the rescue.

 

3 Comments

  1. Susan Haas, PA says:

    From Carlisle PA & staying in Flagstaff. Weather here similar to Penn. The lava cave is very cold about 40 degrees! No animals or smoking allowed in cave which ought to be the rule everywhere on trails during busy hours. People leave water bottles everywhere here and that’s gross. Straighten up people and do right! MTN bikers rude here and some crowded trails should be off limits! Grand Canyon tomorrow and maybe Sedona if time allows on way back next week! Lava rocks here spectacular! Susan Haas, Mick Siddiqui, Connie Cohen, Franny Parkhurst, Ry Fernando

  2. Esther says:

    Check those boxes. Hate being told move right thirty times in five minutes.

  3. Lucien Pena says:

    Let’s believe that woman learned a lesson.

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